


If You Want To Stay.

by axolotlnerd-campcamp (axolotlNerd)



Series: Camp Coraline [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series), Coraline (2009)
Genre: Coraline AU, David and Gwen are engaged, Gen, NOT MAXVID, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, adoption au, like WOW not maxvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2018-12-27 07:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 32,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12076050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axolotlNerd/pseuds/axolotlnerd-campcamp
Summary: Curious young Max finds a small door in his family's new apartment and is transported to a universe that strangely resembles his own - only better.Camp Coraline AU!





	1. Soon (Prologue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start this, here's to the lovely people who have helped me write this story.
> 
> First we have perihelion-princess on Tumblr, or AmaranthineSkies on Ao3. She beta-ed the story for me, and as someone who has a very bad habit of misspelling or just straight up leaving out words, it means the world to me.
> 
> After that we have Princess Chalondra on Tumblr. She read the story, commented many absolutely inspiring things, and made the following gorgeous cover art for the story!
> 
> Here is a link to her Tumblr, please make sure to wish her the best from me: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/princesschalondra

* * *

The night sky shimmered above the home, stars wavering like fabric being blown through the wind. He looked at those stars, thinking - no, knowing - that this place was getting weaker. _It has been so long,_ he thought, running his fingertips over the creaking window frame. The attic was always a particularly nice place to be.

It was a shame the house was beginning to crumble. He knew he needed to fix this, and fast. If he really wanted to thrive in the safe haven he had built for himself, he knew he’d have to take action.

It was taking so long for it to arrive. He’d spent much of his ability on bringing it to him, beckoning the toy to his window with muttered words of magic. _Soon,_ he thought. _Soon it will be back here. And I can feed once again._

He almost missed the breeze. So long ago, he gave that up so he could thrive in his miniature paradise. He gave up the fresh air, and the real stars, and every drop of sunlight he could ever have hoped for basking in. He gave it up for this.

He couldn’t quite bring himself to regret it. Not with the practical empire he had built himself. Not with all the puppets he gained. Especially the one he was calling now.

From the fabric sky, it floated towards him. He reached his hands out, simply waiting for the doll to fall into his hands, fingers long and pointed to the stale air. He’d most certainly have to freshen up the place before he had any guests.

Carefully placing the doll onto his workstation, he admired his work as he undid it. He couldn’t help but be prideful of how well he had designed this last one; an astronaut suit was not an easy thing to make with nothing but a needle and thread. But, even if it was to stroke his own ego, he couldn’t help but feel proud.

After he pulled off all of the doll’s accessories, he carefully split the seams at it’s mouth, revealing the stuffing inside. _So old fashioned,_ he thought to himself, pulling it all out. He turned the doll inside out, the inside being a darker, sun-shade tone. Better to fit the child.

Carefully, he filled the doll; sawdust was always a much more comforting feeling than itchy stuffing. With careful stitches, he sewed the mouth back together, pleased with his work so far. He dug through drawers, pulling out his materials and setting them up neatly next to his station. First, the eyes; vivid blue-green buttons, sewed on neatly.

This child’s hair would be quite a pain, but if there was one thing this being knew how to do, it was improvise. He got wool off of his shelf, not even spun yet. He silently thanked himself for saving the last bits of the black-dyed wool, it saved him so much time.

After finishing stitching it in, he began work on the clothes. Nothing but a simple blue hoodie and jeans, that was all he needed to make for it to be convincing. He laughed to himself, thinking silently, _this one will be easy._

He held it up to the same creaking window, feeling that same stale air pull at the doll. Beckoning it back to the wavering night sky it had fallen from. He carefully released it, watching it float away.

_Soon,_ he thought, _you will be mine, Max._


	2. Help Yourself

The car bumped along as they pulled into the dirt driveway, Max looking bitterly out the window. A small moving truck had already parked outside of the apartment building, the people who had driven it pulling out boxes and furniture and bringing them into the house.

A lanky dark skinned girl, clad in wizard robes and matching hat, laughed as she ran up the stairs, yelling into her apartment below. “You’ll never catch me, foul warlock!” She said, giggling. Her laughter stopped at the sight of the movers, to which she gasped and ran back down, nasally voice exclaiming “Harrison! Someone’s moving in upstairs!”

As the movers finished up, a slightly bitter looking blond gave Gwen a clipboard. She signed it, giving a crumpled up 10 dollar bill for tip. The boy looked at the bill, scoffing. “I hate this job,” He muttered, walking away.

Max had briefly complained about how there was nothing to do at the house without wifi when David quickly offered that he walk in the woods nearby. “There’s so much to do around here without the internet!” He exclaimed, as chipper as always. “You could explore the woods, or read a book, or find a trail, I even heard there’s a well around here! You could look for that?”

Max hated his foster parents. That’s what he’d say time and time again, trying to convince himself. David was a tall and twinkish red head, hair fluffing up in the front and complimenting his freckle-filled face. Gwen, on the other hand, had a darker (almost black) shade of red tied up in a ponytail in a feeble attempt to keep her hair out of her tired, violet eyes.

They had gotten engaged some months before they’d taken in Max. He’d gone to the summer camp David and Gwen worked at when they met, and sometime between when Max left the camp to when he was thrown in the foster care system, they must have started dating.

Max had always shown resentment to his camp counselors. He assumed it was in his nature, because even though he’d never say it out loud, he didn’t hate David and Gwen. Sure, David’s constant happiness made the kid seethe, and Gwen had this weird obsession with trashy magazines and t.v. shows. But they were good foster parents.

Even if Max would never admit it. _Not in a million years,_ he told himself.

Max quickly resigned himself to walking out the back door before his ginger foster parent could start lecturing him about how _it’s good to walk outside,_ and _nature cures everything,_ yadda yadda. He looked around the bleak looking scenery. _The owners of this shithole need to get some colors in here,_ he thought. The dirt and the stone were practically the same color, matching the trees and the storm clouds brewing above.

Maybe gardening camp would turn out to be more useful than he thought.

Walking down the path, he stopped at a bush, pulling out one of the dead branches. He swung it for a moment, deciding on just taking it with him to find this well. _Or whatever._

He walked along the bleak stone paths, looking at the dirty gray stone, walking along the boring dirt paths along the dead grass. For late August, this was strange. Everything was dead.

A clatter in the rocks above stopped him and his thoughts in their tracks. “Hello?” He called, teal eyes scanning the scenery. He held up his stick as if he were holding a sword, glaring. “Who’s there?” His voice was sharp against the quiet forest. At no sound of a reply, he reached to his feet, grabbing a small stone and chucking it into the rocky ledge above him.

An animal yowled at being hit with the rock, stunningly human in it’s yelp. Max jumped at the sound. _Shit,_ he thought as he turned to run, _this is a GREAT way to die. Killed by some wild animal._

He ran, sprinting down a windswept hill, dashing through a dead grove of fruit trees before tripping over a piece of rotting wood and falling right into a pile of mud. He grunted, pulling himself up quickly as his heart raced. He readied his stick, panting as he looked around for the animal.

The sound of footsteps behind him set him off. He turned, facing a set of fierce pink eyes as the munchkin cat growled at Max. He yelled some strange mix of a battle cry and terror, taken by surprise at the cat.

“Stupid mangy fuckin’ cat!” He yelled. The cat glared at him, tabby markings on her back bristling. “I’m just looking for some stupid well. Know it?” Max cursed himself for talking to a cat.

She just blinked in reply. Like she could do anything else.

“Not talking, I guess.” He sighed, turning and breathing in the humid air as he brushed the mud off of his blue hoodie. He let the air rush past him, the storm that was brewing making the wind speed up. His dark curls ruffled in the breeze as he took a moment to relax.

His moment was gone at the speed of sound when the air was filled with the sound of some kid screaming, along with thunder filling the clouds. Max jumped, watching a pale blue-eyed boy tumble down the hill ahead of him, his bike taking the same path.

The kid skidded to a halt, rosy skin now covered in mud. He held a hand to this head, fingers grabbing his coffee-colored curls as he looked up at Max.

“Oh. You’re the kid my grandpa talked about. You’re… Pretty jumpy there, huh?” The stranger’s voice was like something you’d hear out of a kid’s cartoon about high school. This kid was clearly the nerd stereotype.

“No!” Max replied with defensively. “And I don’t like being fucking watched. Not by… Biker nerds.” He bitterly stated. The she-cat from earlier walked over to the kid, sitting in the mud next to him. “Or their stupid cats.”

“Oh! You mean Nikki?” The kid said, looking at the short legged cat. “She’s not really mine. She’s… Feral as they come, ha.” He scratched the cat’s chin with his gloved hand, letting her purr. “I do feed her, though. And she likes to bring me her… Hunt.” He sounded uncomfortable at the memory.

“Whatever. David told me about some stupid well around here. You know it?” Max spoke casually as he shoved a hand in his pocket, the other relaxing as he held his stick, tapping it on the ground.

“You’ll fall in it if you don’t stop whacking that thing around.” The kid in front of him said. Max looked at his feet, backing away quickly and wondering how he hadn’t noticed the strange circle of mushrooms earlier. “My grandpa says that it’s so deep that if you fall, you’ll see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day. But I know that scientifically impossible, as-”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up, nerd boy.” Max said as he pulled up the wooden panel that covered the well. There was a pause of silence as he looked down the hole before closing it, bored already.

“I’m surprised my grandpa let you move in. He owns the pink palace. He doesn’t like letting people with kids move in? For some reason?”

Max grunted in reply.

“I’m Neil. By the way. Neil Delman.” Neil offered his hand. Max shook it, pulling away quickly.

“Max.” He said, actively avoiding saying his last name. He had always been uncomfortable with it. On one hand, it was a piece of his culture and history, on the other, it only ever made him think about his parents. Another topic he’d actively avoid.

There was a long moment of silence as Max looked through the trees, down at the so-called _Pink-Palace._ New home.

“Neil?” Someone called. Max ignored it, assuming Neil would start going home at the call. When he heard Neil stop at the side of his cat, he turned.

“I think someone’s calling you.”

“What? I didn’t-”

“Neil!” They called again. He muttered under his breath. _“Grandpa,”_ He said, gathering his bike once again.

“Well, it was great to meet you, Maxwell.” He said.

Max glared at him, resenting the name as he swung his stick lightly back and forth.

“Well. I’d wear gloves next time.” Neil said. Max looked at him inquisitively. “That stick is poison oak.”

Max let out a small yelp as he throw the stick. _“Dammit,”_ He muttered as Neil started peddling away. Max just glared at him for a moment before he heard a small _meow_ at his feet. The pink-eyed munchkin cat still sat there, looking smug in her purr. She let out another _mrow_ before padding off, tail held high.

Max scoffed at Nikki, turning back to the well. He lifted up the panel, looking into the hole. _So deep you see stars in the middle of the day, huh?_ He thought. He reached behind him, grabbing a pebble to drop into the hole.

He watched as it fell, and once he couldn’t see it, he tried to focus on hearing it. Still, it fell and fell, falling further and further down. After a long stretch of silence, he finally heard the faint splash of the rock falling into the well.

He felt unsettled as he closed the well again, beginning to feel his hand itch.

_It’s going to be a long day._


	3. That Dragon, Boredom

Max was moving boxes into his room, itching his red hands periodically. David was pushing a mattress into the room, as the force of Gwen and Max together couldn’t do it. You’d be surprised at how strong the twiggish man was - holding Max with just one arm wasn’t just do to his small stature. Though he was sure that helped.

“So,” David said, slightly huffing against the strain of the mattress. Max didn’t really understand why his foster parent had gotten such a big bed. The kid was only 4 foot 8, much shorter than the average twelve year old. “What did you find yesterday?”

The black haired child shrugged as he pulled out his things from boxes. “I found that well. Met some kid named, what, Neil?” He said, thinking out loud for the moment. David smiled brightly at Max as he put the mattress down on the bed frame. The kid already knew he was going to shove his garbage down there.

“That’s great! I’m so proud of you, already making friends-” David rambled. Max groaned in reply.

“I know! I know, making friends is good, I’m too anti-social, blah, blah, blah,” He rolled his eyes as he spoke, David, childishly pouting, opened his mouth to speak. Max beat him to it as he scratched his poison oak. “Can I just go outside or something?” 

The freckle-faced man looked out the window of Max’s room. “It’s pouring out there. I know there’s not much to do in here, but I really don’t want you to catch a cold.” David knew Max liked the rain, but his sense of concern for Max’s health was still strong.

“Then can I at least do something in a different room than  _ you?” _ Though any normal adult would have taken offense to this, David had heard these comments said again and again by this kid. He knew it was just a part of Max at this point.

“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll finish up moving the heavy stuff in here, you can go explore the house!” He said happily. Max grunted in reply to his comment. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. I found this on the front porch. It’s addressed to you, so maybe it’s from that friend of your, Neil?”

Max looked curious as he took the package, if it could even be called that. It was something wrapped up in newspaper, still a little damp from the rain. Max opened it, pulling out the note inside.

“I found this weird thing in my grandpa’s truck. Thought you might like it. From, Neil.” Max groaned once again as he unwrapped the newspaper.

His disdain faded as he looked at the doll. It was unsettlingly like him; big hair, same skin tone, and the button eyes were the very same color as his own. Max tried to shrug it off, but found himself thinking about it anyways. “I’m too old for dolls anyways.” He muttered, walking out of the room with doll in hand.

There were a lot of thing he’d never admit to, and having Mr. Honeynuts in his hoodie pocket was just one more.

 

Max sighed as he walked around, stumbling across the computer room, where Gwen was sitting in front of her laptop, editing her resume.

“Hey Gwen.” He said simply. Gwen looked over.

“Hey, kid. Things are boring without wifi, huh?” She said, smiling. The woman always seemed much more friendly when she was in between jobs. Max actually found her company enjoyable when she wasn’t stressed out 24/7.

“You bet.” Max replied with simply.

“You make a friend?” She laughed, glancing at the little Max doll he held. He flushed slightly in reaction, trying his best to play it cool. 

“Some kid next door gave it to me. It’s dumb.” He said, looking away and sneering. Gwen smiled to herself. “Can I go outside?”

“What did David say?”

Max put on his classic David voice; a whining tone where he’d hold his hands together innocently. “I don’t want you to go outside! You’ll catch a cold! Lets all eat dinner at the table and sing  _ Kumbaya _ together!” Gwen laughed at Max’s over exaggeration. 

“Then no going out while it’s raining.” That tended to be the way it was. David made the rules and Gwen went along. She was usually working while Max was home, and since David was a teacher, he had to spend most of his time with his foster dad anyways.

Max took a deep breath in and, using a trick one of his ‘friends’ in the Flower Scouts taught him, let out a long groan. Gwen sighed in response, only listening to his complaining for a brief moment before interrupting him.

“You know, this house  _ is _ 150 years old. Maybe there’s some cool old shit you can find in the attic? Or… I don’t know, look at all the fancy windows from the 1800’s. We’ll go out to the library as soon as we can and pick you out a book, okay?” Gwen said. Max muttered his agreement, walking away with his doll still in hand.

 

He did his best to entertain himself as he explored the house. He would try to smooth out the bumps in the carpet leading from the front door, walking away frustrated after enough times of failing. Looking through the leaking windows, exploring the boiler room, quickly running from the bugs that now resided in the bathroom… 

It was a mere half hour before he’d explored almost all of the house. He sighed as he walked into the living room, putting his doll down on top of one of the boxes and looking at the painting above the mantle. It pictured a blond boy, hair curled up much like David’s up top. In his hand, he held and ice cream cone, where the ice cream had clearly fallen onto the dry dirt below him. From his baby blue eyes, tears leaked out.

_ Wow, _ Max thought as he stared at the painting, _ that’s depressing as shit. _ He sighed once more to himself, turning to grab the doll to leave the depressing and gray room.

His hand simply reached in the empty air, the doll gone from it’s place on the box. Max hummed curiously, looking around the room. How did that thing move? He was sure he put it down on that box.

Looking around, he spotted the doll on the floor across the room, peeking out from behind a box. Max huffed as he walked up to it, moving the box out of the way.

But where he had expected the normal gray, dusty wall, he saw the outline of a small door. He looked at it, running his small fingers along the edge. There was definitely something interesting back there.  _ More interesting than the rest of this shithole. _

Max held his doll in his pocket as he ran up the stairs going to his room where David had set almost everything up. There was just one box left, books stacked neatly inside it. David sat on the chair next to Max’s bed, holding a copy of  _ Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. _

“Oh! Hi Max! Did you find anything interesting?” The redhead asked him.

“Yeah, I think I found the door to a crawl space in the living room, can you check it out?” He asked, hands in his pockets. David practically glowed.

“I would  _ love _ to, Max!” He said, standing up and smiling. Max sighed in response, leading David down the stairs to the crawlspace door. He crouched in front it, humming curiously as he looked at the door buried underneath the wallpaper. “It’s probably locked. Let me see if we have any keys labeled for it in that drawer…”

David stood up and went to the kitchen, looking through the drawer. Most of the keys were labelled, excepting one with what looked like a button at the top. He grabbed that one, as none of the plethora of keys were labelled “crawlspace door”.

Returning to the living room, hey used the key to carve into the wallpaper and then unlock the door. Max unconsciously leaned in curiously, watching as the door opened to reveal… 

A wall of bricks. “What?” Max exclaimed. “That’s so fuckin’ stupid. Why would they make a door that leads to a wall?” His eyebrows furrowed, frustrated. He’d been bored for far too long, and being denied this simple adventure just made him more upset.

“Language.” David kindly scolded. After so long, he realized he’d never be able to do much more than point it out when he heard it. “They probably blocked it off when they were dividing up the house. I’m sorry, kiddo, I know you’re bored as heck right now. As soon as we’re finished unpacking, we’ll find something to do together, okay?”

Max huffed for a moment then nodded, decided finally that he would just go to his room and spend the rest of the day re-reading  _ Percy Jackson. _ Again.

 

David hummed a tune to himself as he made dinner, smiling as bright as he always did. Max scratched at his poison oak and sat at the dinner table next to Gwen, who was working on her downloaded documents. Presumably for work. Either that, or it was one of the stories she worked on in her free time. 

David placed a bowl of mac and cheese in front of Max, to which he just sighed. Everyone knew Max didn’t eat nearly as much as he should, but it was mainly because he was a fairly picky eater. Even more so ever since he got thrown into the foster care system. He mainly assumed it was to give the adults a tough time, since he loved that, but maybe there was something else to it.

Kraft ‘Mac N Cheese’ wasn’t on the list of foods he’d eat.

“Are you sure this is even edible?” Max asked, poking his fork into the bowl and letting it stick straight up. Gwen sighed softly next to him.

“I know it’s not your ideal meal, but you have to eat. We’re going grocery shopping soon, ‘kay?” She said with a small and sympathetic smile.

“Whatever. I’m gonna go to bed.” Max quickly jumped out of his chair, holding his doll by the hand as he rushed to the stairs. David called to him, trying to get the kid to eat his food, but he was already gone.

 

Max had quickly jumped into bed, hoping that if he pretended to be asleep, David wouldn’t bother him anymore. He pulled the covers up to the top of his head, barely letting his nose out of the blanket as he waited for David to come in and make him eat.

But that didn’t happen. After five minutes of waiting, the stairs had barely even creaked. Max could hear his foster parents downstairs, talking about something he couldn’t hear. He sighed for a moment and sat up, pulling out the doll and just staring at it for a moment. Touching it’s wooly hair. Fiddling with the hems of it’s jacket. Tapping his button eyes.

_ What a weird doll, _ Max thought, touching it’s tight-knit and well worn fabric. He put it down, sitting it on the chair next to his bed. It’s head flopped to the side, as if it was falling asleep on the chair itself. Max couldn’t help but smile at it’s human-ness.

He pulled off his hoodie after pulling Mr. Honeynuts from it’s pocket, dropping it on the ground in front of the chair. Laying carefully on his pillow, he heard a small tap on his door, someone very lightly knocking. Max didn’t reply, expecting David to come in.

But he didn’t. He just waited, and at no sound of reply, David just spoke softly. “Goodnight, Max. Sweet dreams.” His voice was sweet, not enthusiastic like it normally was, but genuine and heartfelt.

“Goodnight, David.” Max replied. He wasn’t nearly as genuine as his foster parent in his tone, but he did hold back his usually grumpy mannerism. David’s footsteps faded to the side, where he and Gwen had made their bedroom.

_ I wonder if he heard me? _ Max wondered. He quickly decided that he hoped David did not.

Max turned over, bidding a small ‘goodnight’ to his doll as he tucked in Mr. Honeynuts next to him, closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep.


	4. Into The Rabbit Hole

Max wasn’t quite sure of how long it had been when a far-away squeaking woke him up.  _ Damn stupid-ass creaky house, _ he thought tiredly. He turned, putting his pillow over his head in a feeble attempt to block out the noise, but as it drew closer, he couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t just the house.

When it became too much to go back to sleep with, he growled as he sat up in bed, looking around the room fiercely. He leaned down, looking under his bed. “You little monster!” He yelled, seeing a mouse with an oddly long tail sitting under his bed frame. The mouse hopped away, jumping like a kangaroo as it ran under his door.

Max immediately pursued, swinging his door open fast and chasing the little beast as he grumbled. “Shitty house with shitty pets and shitty neighbors, fuck this,” He muttered as he ran after the hopping mouse down the stairs and into the living room.

The mouse darted into the crawlspace door that was still barely open.  _ Why would it go there? _ Max thought.  _ It’s just a brick wall, it has nowhere to go. _

Regardless of his suspicion, Max pulled open the door to the crawlspace. A breeze flew passed him, ruffling his hair as he lightly gasped at what he saw in place of the brick wall.

A tunnel expanded before him, stretching out to a second door just like the one he had opened. Max’s eyes shone curiously in the purple and blue swirling lights as he leaned forwards, as if trying to fall into the warm air brushing past him, ruffling his hair.

_ “Woah.” _ He muttered to himself. Either his mind was making him see things, or making some crazy dream for him. He decided to believe the latter, carefully placing his palm onto the tunnel’s thin fabric. When it supported him properly, he crawled forwards, venturing to the door the mouse had escaped through.

Max pushed through the door, careful to touch it. Like it would break if he wasn’t careful. He pulled himself onto the wooden floor, looking around. “What the fuck…?”

It was the same living room he had been in not even a minutes ago. The walls were somehow brighter, though. Not the same, faded blue-gray that they were before. He looked around, trying to take in this familiar but still all new sensation. Even the painting over the mantle was different; the little blue-eyed boy had not dropped his ice cream, and instead was joyously eating it.

Max breathed in deeply, smelling something fresh coming from the other room. He immediately started walking towards it, smiling as he inched closer to the smell coming from the kitchen.

He approached the kitchen door, looking into the warm light where a familiar face stood cooking over the oven top. “David? What are doing out here, it’s the middle of the-”

This person was not David. He turned around, a bright and surely David-like smile on his face. But it wasn’t David, because this person was blond and didn’t have David’s freckles. Where he should have had forest-green eyes, baby blue buttons had been sewed into his eye sockets.

“You’re just in time for dinner, Max!” The kid couldn’t decide whether to call this person a stranger or David 2.0. Instead, he just stared, looking right into the person’s buttons. Eyes. Button eyes? He couldn’t tell.

“You… You’re not David.” Max said, feeling increasingly more uneasy. Was this a dream or a nightmare? “David doesn’t have…” He pointed at his eye, trying to hide his apprehensiveness.

“Buttons?” The tall stranger laughed softly, sounding somehow forgiving in his tone. “I’m your Other Father. But you can call me Daniel.” Max just continued staring at him. Something inside him must have decided that this  _ Daniel _ was dangerous, because he quickly started glaring at the blond. “Here, you go tell your Other Mother, Jen, dinner’s ready. She’s in the music room.

Music room? Gwen’s never even so much as  _ touched _ a musical instrument. Max watched as Daniel took out a pot from the oven, the smell of roast chicken filling the air. His stomach growled in return.

“What are you waiting for?” Daniel said, looking over with a smile. “Go on!”

Max nodded silently and then turned, still glaring at Daniel.  _ Where was the music room?  _ He wondered, walking through the hallway. Curious, he peeked into the computer room, and there he saw a woman like Gwen sitting at a piano. “Gwen?”

She turned in he seat, a happy smile on her face. “Hello, Max!” Her buttons were an icy blue, and unlike Gwen’s dark red hair, she had bleach blonde locks tucked into a ponytail. “I’m so glad you’re here. I finally finished composing my newest song, would you like to hear it?”

“Gwen can’t play piano.” Max said, looking unamused. Jen laughed, voice dripping with honey as she did so.

“Well, I’m not Gwen, sweetie!” She said, turning to the piano. Her fingers ghosted across the keys for a moment before playing, carefully moving with the tune.

Max sat down, listening to the melody as it rang throughout the room. There were no lyrics, but the sound itself gave him everything he needed to know. Something about a person who was happy even though the rest of the world was not. 

Maybe it was a stupid thought, but he felt like the notes of the song told more of a story than any lyric he’d ever heard.

_ Yeah, that’s dumb. _ He told himself as Jen finished.

“So? What do you think?” She asked, looking at him happily. Max caught himself before anything rude could come out.

“It was good. Uh, Daniel wanted you to know food’s ready.” He said.

Jen jumped up from her chair, letting it roll away. “Finally! I’m starving, aren’t you?”

 

Though Max had expected the normal sit-at-the-kitchen-table routine, Jen led him into the living room. Pressing a button, a wall opened up, revealing a flat-screen television. Max just stood in shock as Jen sat down next to Daniel on the couch, a banquet of food on the coffee table. David and Gwen would have  _ never _ had the money for this.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You can put on whatever movie you want.” Daniel said, holding out the remote for the small kid to take. He did, sitting down on the couch and clicking through Netflix before putting on  _ The Nightmare Before Christmas. _

A plate was placed down in front of Max, plates of food rotating around for him to take. Shyly, he took a small bit of everything. Corn, mashed potatoes, peas, chicken… He started eating as he watched the movie. At the offer of gravy, he took it quietly. Looking over at Daniel and Jen, they were quietly talking, laughing and smiling with each other.

_ This is one strange fucking dream, _ Max thought,  _ but I am definitely riding this out. _

“So, Max,” Daniel started, looking at him. “How’s dinner?”

Max looked up at him, feeling conflicted. Obviously this was a dream, but part of him felt it so truly, wondered if maybe it was real. If it was, shouldn’t he try to stay on Daniel’s good side?

“It’s… Really good.” He finally brought himself to say. Daniel smiled gleefully.

“I’m so glad to hear that! Is there anything else you need?” He asked.

“A drink would be nice.” Max answered, feeling apprehensive.

“Of course!” At Daniel’s words, the chandelier (that Max had not even notice until this point) descended from it’s ceiling perch, rotating around different drinks. “What would you like?”

“Just… Water. Thanks.” The chandelier rotated to a pitcher filled with water. Max put his cup under and poured some in, drinking it down fast. This felt so surreal, and though he kept trying to tell himself  _ this is a dream, _ Max couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Because he was  _ actually _ full. Because he could still smell the food in front of him, hear every line of  _ The Nightmare Before Christmas _ even though he’d never seen it before.

“So, Max, I was wondering… Would you like to play a game?” Daniel asked, his fingers running along the table, nails scratching, back and forth, back and forth. This set off alarms in Max’s head immediately, making his breath catch and heart race.

“No, I-I think I should go to bed now…” He said, cursing at himself for letting this nervousness get to him. He stood up as Daniel nodded.

“That’s a good idea, kids do need rest, after all!” Daniel said, standing up. “Me and your Other Mother will clean up down here, do you need anything before bed?”

“No, I’m fine.” Max said hastily. He didn’t know why, but something about this felt so strange and off, like shit was about to fly off the handle any second. He turned, going up the stairs quickly just like he had to avoid David calling him back down to dinner what felt like mere moments ago.

Max was about to fling himself back into bed, just like he had earlier, but when he entered the bedroom, he stopped. What had previously been a faded blue-grey peeling wallpaper, it was a soft yet vibrant blue, and his bed looked so much more enticing with new sheets and blanket. He looked around, staring at the liveliness of the room.

Quite literally. The stuffed animals that lined his shelves (which he had always  _ sworn _ were for sentimental reasons, not games) were talking, laughing and joking with Max as he entered the room. Paper cranes he had kept from Origami Camp were flying around, circling the room gleefully.

“Do you like it?” Daniel asked, now right behind Max. He jumped, looking up at the button-eyed blond.

“Uh, yeah.” He said. Daniel smiled.

“I would have just let you go to bed, but I thought we should take care of that poison oak.” He kneeled down, putting out one of his hands to ask for Max’s. Out of one of his pockets, he took out a bottle of lotion, putting a small bit on Max’s hand. “It should be gone by the morning. Good night, Max!” Daniel said, standing up and leaving.

The kid didn’t respond. Just turned and jumped into bed, feeling conflicted and yet, some how, content. He turned, holding Mr. Honeynuts who was now sat next to him, closing his eyes and waiting to fall back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry to interrupt the story, but I thought that I should make a little PSA about this.
> 
> I don't know how many of the people reading this are writers, but the people who are know how important comments are. Yes, I know you've heard this a thousand times, but I thought maybe I should explain a bit.
> 
> Just like artists who need reblogs/retweets/shares etc., we need something to tell us that people are reading and enjoying the story and most importantly _want more._ Sure, kudos are nice and we love seeing people that like our stories show that, but after so long it begins to feel monotonous. We don't know what exactly you want if you just leave a like, or if you're just leaving kudos out of habit.
> 
> So the solution is actually really easy. Comments! Us writers live for comments, and whether you're a fanartist, fanwriter, or just a browsing fan, always leave a comment on a story you like! Otherwise, we have no idea what you guys want, if you want more or if you have advice. The same goes for art! Always reblog art!
> 
> Even if it's just a copy/paste of something you said on another story, you have no idea how much it means to us to see people actively enjoying our work. It doesn't take much more than a small, simple comment to let us know that you're there and want us to continue writing.
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading thus far. I can't wait to keep writing this, and I hope you guys get as much joy reading this story as I do writing it.
> 
> \- Kat
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: I'd also like to tell you that I have a tumblr! You can message me any time for any reason at amirrorcalledthemoon.tumblr.com, or if you don't have that, you can also email me at axolotlnerd@gmail.com. I would be glad to talk to you about anything, whether it be story-related or not!
> 
> EDIT TWO: I completely forgot I have a sideblog completely dedicated to Camp Camp that you can message me on as well. It's more-camp-camp-fic-please.tumblr.com and I hope to see you there! <3


	5. My Real World Is Such A Bore

Max stretched, groaning as he felt his joints pop into place. He blinked open his vibrant eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the morning light streaming through his window. He sighed as he looked around the room thinking.  _ What was that dream last night? _ He thought as he stood up, glancing at doll who still sat on the chair.

As the kid absentmindedly went to scratch his poison oak, he felt the skin there having softened. Looking at it, he saw that the rash had completely gone away.  _ Okay, _ he thought, _ that’s weird but okay. _

He grabbed the doll and walked downstairs, curious as he tip-toed into the living room, carefully reaching to the crawlspace door. And yet, when he opened it, it was that same brick wall that had been there yesterday. Max huffed, falling back to sit down on the floor.

 

“So, Max!” David said cheerily as he pulled the whistling kettle off the oven top, pouring the hot water into three different mugs. “Did you have any interesting dreams?” He brought the mugs to the table where the angry kid sat, still in his pyjamas.

“Eh, kinda? It was weird. You were there. Sort of. You were blond and had buttons for eyes and were dressed like a cultist.” Max said, smiling slightly. David laughed. 

“That’s definitely interesting!” He said, feeling joy fill his gut. Max rarely ever shared anything with his foster parents, let alone dreams. David put down sugar and milk cups on the table Max sat at, poking at his cereal but not actually eating it. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, but he wasn’t hungry. “Either way, you really should eat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all!”

Max shrugged in response. “I’m not hungry.” He stated, dropping his spoon and letting it sink into the milk of his cereal. David sighed silently, worried.

“Well, now that it’s not raining, it’s a good day to introduce yourself to the neighbors! There are a couple kids your age that live downstairs.” David said. Gwen passed by, grabbing her mug and putting in a spoonful of sugar and a tiny bit of milk.

“And the kid upstairs seems cool,” She said, blowing on her tea to cool it off. Though she normally went for coffee, she’d sometimes opt for tea. “Eccentric for sure. But you might as well talk to him.”

Max sighed as he pulled his tea towards him. He usually went for coffee too, but David was very insistent on the fact that tea was healthier. “Those two downstairs are nerds.” He said bluntly, drinking his tea without letting it cool down, cringing at the bitterness for a moment.

“You might as well talk to them! At least try, okay? It’ll be good to start the school year with friends.” David said as he poured in milk for his tea. Max muttered a “Fine” as he stood up, sipping his tea again and putting one hand in his pocket, brushing the doll inside.

 

Max stepped out into the crisp August air, noticing that it felt more like autumn than summer. He closed the door behind him before putting his hands back in his pockets, trying to warm the cold skin. He’d need gloves soon enough.

As he started to walk down the steps, he felt his foot knock into a tower of packages, all labeled for a “Goodplay”. He looked at the now fallen pile of packages, picking them up and looking at the names. If he was going to go and meet the neighbors, he might as well bring the mail up for them, too.

_ Whatever “Goodplay” ordered, it smells like shit. _ He thought, pulling all the packages into his arms. He knew that the kids downstairs weren’t “Goodplay”s, so that just left him to check the rickety stairs up to the top floor apartment.

Max made his way up the metal stairs as they creaked. He knocked on the door, calling out. “Hello? The mail got mixed up.” He yelled. No answer. He knocked once again, trying one more time to see if someone would respond.

When the door creaked open, he peeked behind, curious as to why the neighbors would just leave their door open. He looked around, glancing at the half-apartment. It barely had furniture, just a very old television and a rocking chair with an old woman sitting in it, knitting.

“Did someone say something?” She asked. Max could practically hear her bones creaking like old wood, to which he snorted. A chicken stood atop a few boxes of who knew what, clucking curiously at the kid who looked inside the apartment.

**“AH-HAH!”** Someone yelled behind Max. He jumped, yelling out a string of cuss words as he dropped the packages on the ground. The kid behind him was much taller than Max, red-brown locks curled at his shoulders like he was from the 17th century. Amber eyes glistened fiercely as he pointed at Max, running up and approaching him quickly. “I knew you were suspicious! Trying to see the play before it’s ready, I knew-”

“Jesus,” Max started. “Calm your tits. I was just bringing up mail.” He held out his hand to gesture at the boxes on the ground, to which Shakespeare-kid gasped at.

“I see, you’re a clever one! Using this  _ mix-up _ to see my famous mouse play before it’s ready. I know-”

Max cut him off before he could continue. “God, do you ever shut up? I’m Max.”

“I’m Preston! You just moved in downstairs, right?” Max nodded in reply. “I’m Preston! I better get these cheeses to the mice, they have a lot of training to do and need  _ motivation!”  _ Preston moved across the balcony to his door, opening it up and then turning back to Max. “But, until then, I bid you farewell, Maxwell.” He bowed far too deeply and crab walked back inside his house, closing the door.

Max huffed in reply. “It’s just Max.”

He shook off the thought sighing and walking back down the stairs. He shoved his hands back in his pockets, walking around the building as he thought of nothing specific. His mind travelled, going anywhere to keep himself entertained.

_ “MAXWELL! _ Wait just a moment!” Preston yelled from his balcony. Max gawked as the tall kid decided jumping off the balcony would be a good idea, watching as he landed clumsily on the ground. 

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Max yelled.  _ Is he dead? _

“Max! The mice told me to tell you something!” Preston said as he looked up from the dirt path he had fallen on, a bruise already forming on his cheek.  _ No, he’s not. _ He stood up, brushing off the dirt from his outfit (which Max had to refrain from calling a costume).

“The mice. Of course, why wouldn’t they talk to you?” He said sarcastically.

“They told me to tell you… Not to go in the little door? I have no idea what it means, but those mice tend to be right! They’re smarter than they look…” Preston spoke dramatically and expressively, looking suspiciously into the distance. 

“Yeah, I’m sure they are. Listen, I’m a busy person, I have stuff to do.”  _ Better things than hang around with people who talk to their mice actors, _ Max thought after finishing.

“Yes, of course! I’m very sorry, sometimes they can say weird things. They just make no sense sometimes! Ha!” Preston finished, standing awkwardly. They sat in silence for a moment, Preston fidgeting with the hem of his- What were they called again? Max thought it was something like a  _ ruff? _ “Well! I best get going back to the mice. Have a nice day, Maxwell!”

And then Preston ran away once again, up the stairs and back into his apartment.

_ Are there any normal kids in this neighborhood? _

 

“I don’t know, Gwen,” David said, holding his tea cup tightly to warm his hands. “I’m just really worried about Max. What if he’s not happy here? What if he has more problems with fights, or bullying?” He rambled on Gwen sighed in response.

“I’m worried too. But you’ve got to stop letting it get to you. Not that I’m one to talk,” She laughed for a moment. “But he’s going to be in your class this year. I’m sure that if anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.”

David nodded in agreement. “I know I say this a lot, but I wish he’d share more with us. Just- Not to put any pressure on the kid, I know he’s been through a lot, but I wish he’d let us know more. Just so we could help him more.”

Gwen turned away from the papers she was filling out, going up to sit directly across from her fiance in the hopes that it would reassure him. “He’s a strong kid. And he’s smart enough to know that we’re here if there’s anything he needs. I think this move is exactly what we  _ all  _ needed.” She said, looking softly into David’s eyes. He sighed fondly, smiling.

“Normally it’s me doing the reassuring. But you’re good at it.” He said before taking a sip of his tea. Gwen smiled.

“Now how about you get over here and help me get all of this in order? I can’t do  _ everything, _ here.” She joked. David smiled as he stood up, going over to the paperwork with Gwen. He placed a light kiss on her cheek, to which she smiled and shook her head.

“I’m glad you’re doing this with me. Love you.”


	6. From The Mountains To The Shore

Max barely had to knock on the downstairs door when the barking started. A long-haired chihuahua was barking up a storm as it jumped up to the window, scratching and yapping at it. Max waited for someone to open the door.

“Oh, come on, Sasha! You can’t do this every time-” A lanky girl with Harry-Potter-esque glasses opened the door, her voice nasally as she gasped at the sight of Max. She grabbed the wizard hat on her head and readjusted it. “You’re the kid who moved in upstairs!” Max could barely hear her over the dog that still barked at him, front paws on his leg to help it reach up.

“Uh, hey, Sasha.” He said unsurely, reaching down to pet the dog. It moved away quickly, walking away with it’s nose in the air. A second dog barged through, a tiny golden dog missing an eye. This one jumped, barking fiercely. Max would have been afraid of it biting him, had it not been so little and harmless looking.

“That’s Tabii with two ‘I’s!” The nerdy girl said.  _ ‘Eye’ only see one, _ Max thought morbidly. “And I’m Nerris. Here, you can come inside! They stop barking after a few minutes, sorry.” Max nodded, understanding.

“Is someone at the door?” A boy asked, peeking over behind Nerris. He had somewhat long, unkempt hair, and a top hat on. He smiled at Max, hazel-green eyes happy at the sight. “Oh! You are the new kid, right?” He asked. Nerris scoffed.

“I thought you were magic! How can you be so magic if you didn’t know he was here?” She asked, hands on her hips as she stood proudly.

“I’m an illusionist, not omniscient.” The kid said, his accent coming through lightly. “I’m Harrison. Come on, Tabii, get off of our friend!” He said happily, picking up the tiny dog. She growled at Max.

“I’m Max.” He simply introduced himself. He walked into the apartment, looking around at the plethora of fantasy movie and video game posters. Nerris dashed off, yelling to her dad to make some tea for “the new kid”.

Harrison led Max to the living room, where a big shaggy-looking dog laid on the couch. “Come on, Erin!” Harrison called to the dog, prompting her to lift her head and open her blue eye, the other covered with fur. Erin jumped off the couch and walked up to Max, simply sniffing him the moving on.

Max sat down on the couch, looking around. Nerris came out of the kitchen, holding a few books and DVD cases. Behind Nerris, a taller woman with the same skin and freckles came out, holding a steaming cup of tea with a small smile on her face. She introduced herself as Nerris’ mom, Max nodding and somewhat glaring at the parent.

“If you kids need anything, let me know!” She said. Nerris put down her books and cases.

“We have a few different video games you can try out, like _ Dragon Age: Inquisition _ and  _ Final Fantasy XV, _ but I also brought my  _ Dungeons & Dragons _ books if you want-” Nerris was interrupted by Harrison, who lightly tapped her shoulder.

“Actually, I was thinking I could show Max one of my magic tricks!” He said, eyes sparkling. Nerris scoffed.

“No one wants to see your dumb magic tricks. Plus, mom might ban magic the next time something gets set on fire.” Though her first comment had been said snarkily rude, the second was much more reasonable and almost apologetic. Harrison agreed sadly, rubbing his neck.

Max grabbed the the cup of tea, which Nerris reacted to. “I can read your tea leaves if you want!” She leaned in, whispering dramatically.  _ “They can tell the fuuuutuuuure!” _ Though Max was fully prepared to say no, the girl looked so excited that he let out a reluctant ‘Fine’. “Okay, drink the tea.”

Apathetically, he drank down the tea before Nerris shouted. “Not all of it!” Max stopped and handed over the cup of tea to the beckoning girl. She swirled it around, then looked into the cup. “Ooooh, Maxwell!” She said, singsong in her tone. “Maxwell, Maxwell, Maxwell,”

He glared intensely at Nerris for the nickname. She took no notice.

“This is a great sign! The giraffe stands for great, big things happening soon, so you must stand tall and-” Nerris was once again interrupted by Harrison, who sighed.

“Oh, Nerris, you fool! This is clearly not a giraffe, but -” He flipped the cup to look at it from the opposite side. “- A sign of great danger!” He said dramatically. Thunder crashed outside. Max sighed.

“Well, what should I do, oh powerful psychics?” He said sarcastically. Neither of the children seemed to catch on.

“Prepare for big change, and be ready to stand tall!” Nerris said happily.

“Be very, very careful with who you trust!” Harrison said, trying to speak over his wizard-robe-clad friend.

“And never wear purple!” Nerris interrupted once more. Harrison glared at her, and she immediately reciprocated the stare. “Well, do you want to play a game? Oh, or make a  _ Dungeons & Dra-” _

“No, I’m good.” Max interrupted her. “David and Gwen probably want me home now. See you later, nerds.” He stood up, walking out the door with those words.

Nerris watched him leave with an optimistic smile on her face. “He seems fun.”

Harrison laughed.

 

“Fuck all that danger bullshit,” Max muttered to himself as he padded up the stairs. He breathed in the humid air, looking at the thick fog that swirled at his waist. The weather was not what he was quite used to here, not that he minded. He actually liked the rain; it gave him an excuse to stay inside.

Then again, being inside was a lot more enjoyable when he had an internet connection and his laptop.

A small tip-toeing of feet was heard from somewhere in the fog. He stopped, listening for it. More tapping on the damp ground behind him, getting closer-

Max turned and grabbed a handful of sandy curls, a loud “Yeow!” coming from their owner. “Hey, what was that fo-” Neil stopped in his tracks seeing Max glaring at him. 

“Great, the town’s biggest fucking nerd-freak came to stalk me.” He said, looking down at the kid who was still kneeling in the fog. Neil stood up, brushing off some of the mud on his rain coat as he did.

“I-I wasn’t stalking you! We’re looking for banana slugs, there’s this experiment I wanted to-” Max cut him off before he could launch into his nerdy spiel.

“We?”

As if prompted, Nikki’s head poked out of Neil’s hood, letting out a small  _ mrow _ as she did so. The cat’s pink eyes met with Max’s blue, and he smiled. “That’s no feral cat! She won’t even get her paws wet. She’s a wuss-puss.” He said. Nikki growled at this, opening her mouth as if to say something but just letting out a hiss.

“I-I mean, I-” He stopped stuttering, giving in to looking back on the ground for the slug he was trying to find.

“So, did you make that doll look like me? Or did you just  _ find _ it?” Max asked as Neil searched the ground.

“It was in my Grandpa’s trunk, it’s probably older than he is anyways. Old as the house, I’d guess? Maybe even older.” He said. He pulled out a pair of tongs, following something as he spoke.

“Come on. It looked  _ just _ like me. Eyes, hoodie, hair-”

“Found it!” Neil exclaimed suddenly. He pulled up his tongs, a large and bright yellow slug in them. Max shrugged off what he was talking about to laugh at the slimy looking thing, poking it once and cringing at the feeling.

“Ew. Oh, wait, hold on a sec…” He said, digging through his pockets to find his iPod. It didn’t work as a phone, but he could message David and Gwen over Google Hangouts with an internet connection. And it could take pictures. “Here, trade.”

Neil let Max take the slug and took the iPod, opening it to the camera. Though Max was usually very camera shy, this, he decided, would be an exception.

He posed with the slug, making stupid faces and jokes, holding it from his nose like it was a booger he forgot wipe off and then on his lip like it was a moustache. Neil laughed as he took pictures, and when Max was done, he tossed the slug lightly towards Neil.

“Think fast.” He said, smirking as Neil yelped and caught the slug with his tongs. Max laughed at his reaction, taking his iPod back.

It was quiet for a moment, comfortably and peacefully. Neil stared at the house, eyes just looking at it. Max noticed. “What’re you looking at?” He asked.

“Oh! Um,” Neil looked almost bashful for a moment. “I’ve just… Never actually been inside the house. My grandpa would kill me if he found out. Says it’s dangerous in there?” He explained, hands held at his chest nervously.

Max was curious at his words. “Dangerous?”

“Well… When he was a kid, a friend moved into the house. Then he just disappeared.”

“So? The kid could have run off or something,” Max said. Nikki peeked up from behind Neil’s head of curls, inspecting the foggy scenery around her. Neil didn’t seem to take notice, as he kept talking.

“Grandpa says he was stolen? I don’t know.” Nikki jumped down from Neil’s hood as he talked, preferring to look at Max’s pockets and scratch at them. Though her legs were too short to reach. “I think there’s a much more reasonable explanation for it. I just can’t figure it out yet.”

“Stolen. Yeah, sure.” Max was clearly skeptical, and shooed the cat away from his pocket. She hissed at it, going back up Neil’s coat and sitting in his hood again. 

_“Neil!”_ Someone yelled. Neil jumped at that.   
“I-I better get going. I, uh… Hope you like the doll?” He said, pulling his bike up from the fog and beginning to pedal away. Max watched as Neil left, fog swirling around him as he disappeared into it.


	7. Never Coming Down

Max didn’t believe in the paranormal, or magic portals through crawl space doors. He didn’t believe that there were magic mice that would go back and forth through aforementioned portals. He didn’t believe that the portal led to a one hundred percent real alternate universe just like his own, only better.

And he most certainly did not believe that the mouse bait he was leaving in front of his door was to make sure they would come back and lead him back to the Other World.

Yet, there he was, setting his door just a crack open and placing a few small, crumbling pieces of cheese in the perfect place for wandering creatures to see it. He tiptoed away from the bait, being as silent as possible as he crawled into bed, making himself look asleep in his pyjamas in the hopes of hearing… Something. Certainly not magical mice.

Squeaking. Max’s mind jumped to the solution it was the house creaking, or maybe Gwen got up to get a drink. But it sounded so alive, and it was right at his door where he’d left the bait.

So he turned to look at the bait, and there it was - a mouse with a long tail held upwards as it grabbed a piece of cheese, making eye contact with Max before hopping away. He told himself, as he ran after the mouse, that he was doing this to get rid of the pests, not to see if he’d find the portal again.

Before he could catch the mouse, it turned to the living room, hopping into the same, barely open door. He launched himself into the room, opening the door and watching the portal expand in front of him, the same purple and blue hues swirling through the breeze that drifted through.

Max told himself it was just another dream, but how could it be? Plus, if this was a dream, he’d be able to control what happened. He could have caught the mice, but no. They were certainly leading him here.

He pulled himself through the tunnel, looking onto the happier looking living room. In the distance, he heard a voice similar to David’s humming a tune. Daniel.

Max wandered into the kitchen, where he saw the lanky blond over the stove, cooking. He turned, smiling at the pyjama-clad kid. “Welcome back, Max.” He said, his tone harmonizing with the welcoming smell of food.

“Hey.” He replied. Suddenly, that warning was back once again. That feeling of “This is a trap” came rushing back to him when he saw Daniel’s eyes, icy blue and yet, somehow, friendly. Maybe it was a side effect of everything that had happened before? But at the same time, Max thought he should trust his gut.

And the many different people telling him it was dangerous. That he could take as a sign too.

“It’s so thoughtful of you to send this cheddar in!” Daniel praised. Max looked at him confused, looking at the scrambled eggs he was cooking. 

“Cheddar?” He muttered to himself, watching as Daniel grated the cheese into the eggs.  _ Mice bait _ was Max’s first thought when he saw the piece of cheese that was being put into the eggs. Maybe he’d avoid that plate.

“Would you go fetch your mother? I bet she’s starving by now!” Daniel said.

“You mean… My Other Mother?” Max asked in reply.

“Your better mother, dear. She’s in the garden.” Max nodded, turning to go outside.  _ Gwen would never have the time to garden. _ He thought, walking out the door and looking at the broken down garden. It was still just as dim and lifeless as it was in the real world, which he considered odd. 

As the moon rose slowly above the horizon, the garden lit up, bushes of flowers blossoming under the light. Max was not usually one to be so stunned by pretty gardens and flowers, but this was amazing regardless; flowers lighting up, suddenly beating with life and glowing under the moonlight.

He awed at the sight, eyes wide as the flowers awoke around him. He walked into the garden, his feet tapping barefoot on the warm stone that was not being lit up by the newfound life of the scenery.

“Hey, Max!” Jen called to him, her tone somewhat forced as she sat on a mantis-like machine that spilled seeds onto the garden, making more flowers bloom and glow. She waved calmly, smiling. Max watched as she stood on the beast, still moving. “How do you like our garden?” She asked, a hand on her hip.

“It’s great!” He replied. Jen turned the Mantis Machine to begin moving towards the kid, who stood watching in awe of the liveliness of the beast. Jen hopped down.

“You want to join me?” She asked. Max shook his head.

“No, he - Daniel, said that food’s ready.” Jan smiled at this, clasping her hands together.

“Great! But first, I want to show you something.” She said, hopping back on the mantis. She grabbed Max, making his heart jump for a moment before she carefully placed him on the seat behind her.

With the push of a button, a propeller rose up from the mantis, spinning and sending it into the air. Max had a death grip on the machine, holding on tightly as it rose up. Looking down, he could see the whole garden with one glance, looking at the glowing blues and reds of flowers.

“This is amazing,” He said under his breath. Jen heard.

“Your Father said you’d like it.” She sounded calm and relaxed. “He knows you like the back of his hand, you know!”

Max hummed in confirmation as his eyes continued to scan the garden. Soon enough, the mantis began to descend, finding it’s way to land next to the garden shed behind the house. Jen helped Max climb down, but as she began to walk into the house, he hesitated.

The Mantis Machine was looking at Max oddly, almost human in it’s concern. They just stared at each other for a moment, thinking. The machine leaned forward, poking it’s nose forwards at the kid who stood in front of it.

“Can the mantis eat with us?”

 

Max was silently shoveling food into his mouth, watching as the large mantis who he had totally not nicknamed DragonSnap poked around the living room. The sounds of  _ James And The Giant Peach _ played in the background, but Max kept losing interest and favoring to pay attention to his food and the robot in the room.

Today’s dinner consisted of breakfast foods, belgian waffles with raspberry syrup and powdered sugar and bacon that just smelling filled the kid’s stomach. He launched himself into a muffin, silently amused as DragonSnap poked his head into the chandelier of drinks.

“I forgot to tell you, Max!” Daniel said suddenly. “Preston invited you to see the Jumping Mice Play after dinner.” Max quickly swallowed the food in his mouth to reply.

“He was for real? I thought that mouse play bullshit was made up.” He remarked.

“Everything’s for real in this world, kid.” Jen said with a happy smile on her face. Daniel stood up, leaning on his wife’s shoulder.

“As soon as you’re ready, you, your mantis friend, and Neil can all head upstairs.” He said. Max groaned.

“Great, there’s a Neil here, too?”

At that, a knock on the front door sounded out. Max walked with Daniel to the door, watching cautiously as he opened the door to see button-eyed Neil standing there, silently smiling.

“Hey.” Max said, apathetic.

Neil silently waves a hello. Max looked at him confused. Daniel walks up behind Neil, putting a hand on the kid’s tawny curls.

“I thought you might like him a bit  _ more _ if he talked a bit  _ less.” _ He explained.

And there it was again; this sick twist of mistrust in his stomach, making Max want to run, get away as fast as he humanly could. But he stayed, looking up at Daniel and trying to keep his composure. 

“So… He can’t talk? At all?”

“Nope.”

Max looked back at Neil, who stood there smiling patiently. He hummed in affirmation as he stuck his hands in his pockets, beginning to walk out the door. DragonSnap’s metal feet clicked against the floorboards as he followed him outside.

“Well, we better get going to that mouse play or whatever. Bye, Daniel!” Max said, waving over his shoulder. Neil followed behind, briefly looking at the giant mantis that followed the boys. He simply shrugged it off, favoring to follow Max as he turned to go up the stairs to Preston’s house.


	8. As Long As You Can Get Home

The warm air was welcoming as they stood outside, Max looking around for a brief moment. He’d expected to hear Neil pipe up, chattering like he tended to.

But he was quiet. Because this one was different. This Neil didn’t speak at all. And even though Max had only known the nerdy kid for a few days, he knew that in the real word, this never would have happened. Never this long moment of silence.

With mechanical whirring sounding out behind him, Max looked over, seeing DragonSnap poking his nose to a panel of the house. It almost seemed curious, as curious as a robot can be.

After a few more taps, the panel swung open, making DragonSnap pull away and watch as a small, glowing blimp made it’s way out the panel. Max and Neil stared as it slowly flew, watching as it made it’s way around the corner of the house to go up the stairs. Though they had been rickety and unstable in Max’s world, these ones looked brand new.

The boys followed the small blimp up the stairs, the mechanic mantis following with cautious steps. The blimp turned, going inside a panel above the door to Preston’s house.

Max looked at Neil, slightly confused. They gave a mutual shrug before Max knocked on the door, and after waiting for a moment, it swung open and scooped everyone inside quickly. He had been taken by surprise by this, and he rushed to his feet heart pounding.

But when he looked around the flat, it was warm feeling and welcoming. Orange light decorated the walls, comforting in their hue. Max looked around, hearing Neil stand up behind him.

Strange, tiny cannons led the way to a velvet curtain, small buttons underneath them to step on. Another small contraption had a rube goldberg feel to it, letting popcorn kernels flow into a heat source and then bounce their way down, getting covered in butter before falling into bags. Max approached on, taking it with a smile.

Firing sounded off behind him. He turned to look, and there stood DragonSnap, covered from head to claw with cotton candy. Neil stomped on one of the buttons on the floor, causing a cannon to shoot another sugary ball of cotton candy. Max laughed, shooting one of the cannons towards him and catching the sugar with a stick.

Warm lights faded. Max looked around for a moment and saw light beaming out from under the velvet curtain. On instinct, he walked toward them, opening them to see two unbelievably soft-looking chairs and a stage lit up golden before them. Max sat down, stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth as the stage’s curtains closed and the lights dimmed.

“Ladies and gentlemen, young and old, I welcome you,” Preston’s voice boomed from behind the curtains. Music started up, the sound of many stringed instruments being tuned, building up anticipation in Max as he looked at the curtain with curiosity bubbling in his chest. “To the first ever performance of the Goodplay Mouse Theater!”

With these words, the curtains opened, revealing rows and rows of mice all standing patiently. The instrument tuning stopped, letting the lights shine on the mice briefly before a drum started pounding rhythmically.

The mice began tapping to the beat, all in sync with each other. Music started loud and energetic, the stage springing to life as the mice danced, circling around each other and creating a tower of themselves.

The blimp from a few moments earlier floated in, and even it seemed to be moving to the beat. It turned to dive into the center of the tower, causing the mice to all collapse inside with their own dives. As the tower became shorter and shorter, it began to reveal the blimp, which had now blossomed open to reveal a glowing pearl. 

One of the mice jumped atop the pearl, moving it’s legs to roll around the stage. The other mice moved to the beat of the music, hopping in and out of ever-changing formations - pinwheels, X’s, circles within circles. The leader continued to hop on his pearl, jumping around and flipping in time.

The mice started circling each other more, recreating their tower. The leader rolled along their heads, raising up as the tower did, higher and higher until he jumped in the middle like the blimp had done. The mice all fell away, this time going outwards to reveal the boy who was now standing in the middle of the stage.

Preston’s gold button eyes were absolutely beaming with pride as he held the leader mouse and his pearl. He bowed, and Max and Neil applauded for him.

“Thank you, thank you,” He said to the toy boys who watched. He glanced at the mechanical mantis next to them, but shrugged it off. “It’s so great that you’re finally here, Max!” He said. Max felt that same twist in his gut, the feeling that this was wrong.

“What do you mean?” He asked. Preston smiled.

“We’ve been waiting a long time.” Max simply looked up at the teenager, who smiled in reply. “I wish I could have given you a play, but the mice didn’t quite feel ready yet! So be sure to come back and have us perform for you again, okay?” Preston’s smile didn’t falter for a moment. Max agreed, and shoved away the mistrust and fear that twisted in his stomach.

This time, things would be okay.

 

Daniel smiled as he saw Max climb into bed, watching as the child savored the warmness of the sheets. “Goodnight, Max.” He said, voice gentle. Max simply grumbled a reply, laying down in the soft bed and falling asleep before his head could even hit the pillow.

Daniel flicked off the light and closed the door silently. He quietly made his way downstairs, looking around the kitchen where the wallpaper was rapidly peeling from the walls. He sighed at the sight, simply resorting to tape to make it look presentable.

“When?” Jen asked from behind him.

“Tomorrow. It has to be tomorrow.” He said. He knew it was risky, that maybe it was too early, but if he didn’t try to finish this as soon as possible… 

If the peeling wallpaper and rotting floorboards were any signs, this place was falling apart faster than he had time for.


	9. Favorite Dreamer

Max woke up with sunlight shining on his face, making him grumble to himself as he shuffled out of bed. He looked around his room, no longer the bright and welcoming room of the Other World but now the gray placidness of his new one.

He sighed, disappointed by the fact he was back home. He looked over to the doll that sat rested on his chair, then over to the door where he had left the mice bait the previous night.

Something had taken it. Obviously, he saw the mice that had take it last night. But now that he had proof it wasn’t all a dream, hope sparked up in him. He stood up, not even bothering to change out of his pyjamas as he went down the stairs, going into the living room and approaching the small door. 

At trying to open it, the wood barely creaked under his nails. Locked. Max cursed to himself before standing up, thinking up a plan.

 

“So, did you have any more interesting dreams last night?” David asked, eyes not moving from the road ahead of him. Gwen sat in the passenger’s seat, listening to the boy’s conversation as she flipped through the quiet radio stations.

“Yeah. Preston’s mouse theater was actually functional.” Max answered. “And there was a giant robotic bug that knew how to garden.” He recalled the night’s events happily as he stared out of the window, watching the passing scenery.

“That sounds awesome!” David said cheerily. He pulled over to a parking space, looking at Gwen who was now fretting over a few papers she held. “You can do this.” He reassured the woman. She was back to her normal, strung out self, trying to get a job programming for some website stationed in the city nearby.

She sighed. “I know.” She didn’t have the same optimism David had, but couldn’t bring herself to reflect it. She opened the car door, leaning out with the small sentiment of “Thank you, David.”

David watched as she walked into the building, hoping for her sake she got this job just so she didn’t have to go to anymore of these dreadful interviews.

 

Max hated clothes shopping. Specifically, clothes shopping with David. While Max would take anything that looked like it fit without even trying it on, David was insistent that they try on everything and made sure it fit just right. Max felt like it made shopping redundant.

David was looking through the jeans, picking out things that looked like they might fit either him or Max, who was looking through the jackets apathetically.

“A horse, a horse,” Someone shouted from far off. Max turned, seeing Nerris on top of a rolling chair, standing and wielding a foam sword. “My kingdom for a horse!” She was being pushed hurriedly by Preston, laughing maniacally as her mom chased the kids down the isles.

“Get back here, you conniving little shits!” She yelled. They all zoomed past Max. He laughed as they disappeared around a corner before the sound of a crash rang out, making him snicker once again.

He smiled as he schemed, grabbing a big and ridiculously soft looking grey and black coat from the rack.

Wearing the big and soft hoodie, he stumbled as he charged the rolling chair he was in. His legs were too short to reach the floor from the seat, so he ran for a moment before jumping up on the seat.

Though he had hoped to crash into his foster parent, the chair had slowed down before he had the chance to. It merely  bumped into the adult’s hip, and he smiled as he looked over to Max. “Having fun?” He asked playfully.

“No.” Max joked back in return, though he didn’t sound joking at all. David laughed genuinely, looking at the coat he wore.

“That’s a nice coat, but I’m not sure we have the money for it right now.” He explained, looking a little disappointed himself. Max shrugged, shoving his own disappointment down.

“It’s fine.” He said, getting off his chair and pushing it away to roll through different isles. He felt guilty for the thought that crossed his mind trying to shove it away for a moment before considering it, and he felt guilty for  _ that _ too.

_ Daniel would have gotten it for me. _

 

Though David had pulled out a small mountain of clothes, Max only decided on a few things. They left the store quietly, loading into the car to head home.

Max sat in the back seat, staring out the window as they drove. “Why’d you lock the tiny door?” He asked bluntly, gaze not flickering as he watched the scenery as it passed. David seemed to be caught a little off guard at Max’s question.

“Oh! Well, I saw some rats go back there. I thought you’d feel safer.” He explained.

“They’re mice, and they’re not dangerous. Hell, it’s the most fun I’ve had since we moved to this shitty town.” Max retorted, scowling out the the window.

“Oh, don’t be like that! School could be fun.” David said cheerily. The kid huffed. 

“Sure.”

“At least give it a shot.” David’s tone softened, moving from ‘unrelenting optimism’ to a resigned yet hopeful sigh. Max simply hummed in response, watching as they pulled into the driveway, their pink house coming into view.

The two hopped out of the car, both going to straight to the kitchen in the hopes of finding food. David opened the fridge, thoughtful as he looked around. “How does ketchup on top of mustard and stale tortilla sound to you?” He asked humorously.

Max made a disgusted face in response.

David laughed. “Well, I’m going to have to pick up Gwen soon anyways. You want to come to the store? You can grab some snacks.” He asked. Technically, they weren’t allowed to leave the foster kid at home, but Max seemed to like having the house to himself. Better than he liked it with his foster parents, at the very least. David trusted the kid not to make a mess, regardless.

“No, just make sure to grab some of those cookies I like?” Max asked. David nodded, leaving with the sentiment that he’d be back soon. 

Max waited for a moment, knowing that the lanky ginger would have to come back in for something. David came back in, grabbed his phone, and left once again.

When he heard the car leave the driveway, Max jumped up, digging through the junk drawer and looking for the button looking key. When it wasn’t there, he huffed. Where would David put something he didn’t want Max to have?

Quickly, he grabbed a chair, pulling it up to the counter and climbing on top to reach the top of the fridge. “Yes!” He exclaimed triumphantly as he grabbed the black key.

He quickly ventured into the living room, approaching the crawl space door and not even thinking as he opened it. The same swirling shades of blue and purple reached out to him as the warm breeze hit his face and the tunnel extended once again.

_ I knew it was real, _ Max thought as he watched the light move for a moment. Though he had felt apprehension when he first entered this tunnel, only excitement filled him this time as he made his way to the second crawlspace door, leaning into it to open his way to the Other World once again.


	10. If You're Gonna Go Anywhere

The air was thick and warm, almost draping over Max like a blanket, welcoming and worn in even though he had only had it for a few days. He made his way through the house, the smell of still warm food finding its way to him and pulling him to the kitchen.

The normal banquet of food was there, and with that Max realized he never thought a “banquet of food” would become normal. He quickly pulled out a plate from a cabinet and filled it with food. He ate as he approached a box decorated with ribbon and a bow on the table, pulling a note off of it.

 _‘Dear Max,’_ The note read, _‘Nerris and Harrison invited you downstairs after lunch. I hope you like the shirt I made you! It’s hand-sewn. Love, Daniel,’_

Max opened the box, pulling out a light t-shirt, black and embroidered with a Triforce symbol. How Daniel knew Max liked _The Legend Of Zelda,_ he didn’t know, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care.

 

He quickly ate his food, and as soon as he was done, he went outside. The sky was overflowing with stars, something that Max didn’t question even though it was probably only around one or two o’clock in the afternoon. The garden still looked just as bright as it did the previous night, glowing with orange light. DragonSnap whirred as he walked around the garden, a sprinkler sprouting out of his back to water the plants that bloomed.

Max walked down the stairs of the home, wearing his new shirt in the summer air.

A loud meow caught Max’s attention, making him stop and look to the top of the canopy that protected the deck. A small, pink-eyed munchkin cat stood there, staring down at the small kid. Max’s first reaction was to call the cat Nikki, but he knew it was not the same cat; none of the people he once knew were the same ones in this world.

Max hummed curiously. “Neil’s got a cat like you in the real world.”

The cat simply mewed as she jumped down from the roof, finding her way to Max’s eye level. She carefully lifted her paw to groom herself, seemingly unaffected by Max’s words.

“So you’re the ‘Other Nikki’, huh?” He asked rhetorically.

“No!” The cat exclaimed, taken aback by the accusation. Max jumped. “I’m not the ‘other’ anything. I’m the real deal! I’m just me.”

Max nodded. “Yeah. You don’t have the… Buttons.” He said. Nikki began to walk off, and Max found himself following. “Wait, if you’re the same cat, how the fuck can you talk?”

“Things are different in this world. I just can. But you _are_ the expert on these things, right? I’m just a big ‘wuss puss’!” She said angrily, walking onto a fallen tree and climbing it’s dead branches. She sat proudly, fluffy tail held high in the air as she sat down. Max felt a small spark of guilt as he followed Nikki.

Still, he kept his face the same abrasive expression he used most of the time. “Look, I’m sorry. How did you even get here?”

Max’s non-apologetic apology seemed to be enough for the short cat. She turned, walking down the branches of the tree as she spoke. “I’ve been coming here for a while! Longer than you, anyways.”

She walked behind a branch, and though Max expected to see her walk out of the other side, she did not. Like she had disappeared into thin air.

“It’s a game I play with him! He _loves_ games.” Nikki said, now behind Max. He jumped, and she smiled in return. She hopped back onto the tree, speaking again at eye-level with Max. “But he hates cats. He tries to keep me out, but he can’t!”

She poked her head into a hole of the tree, and on the other end of the log where another hole had caved in, she came out of it. Like a portal. “I come and go as I please.” She finished.

“Why would the Other Father hate cats?” Max asked. Nikki huffed in response.

“Well, he’s not like any father I’ve ever known!”

“Yeah, because most fathers leave their kids to ‘go get cigarettes’ and then don’t come back? He’s awesome!” Max retorted. Niki was unimpressed, hopping out of the hole and climbing up the tree, leading her back to the roof.

“You think this world is a dream come true, huh? You’re wrong, though! The Other Neil told me.” She said proudly.

“That’s stupid. The Other Neil can’t fucking talk!”

“Not to _you,_ maybe.” She said, sitting with her tail held high once again. “Us cats have much better senses than you humans do, though! We can see and smell and hear and-” She stopped abruptly, making Max stop rolling his eyes to pay attention to the cat’s alertness. She stood stiffly, looking around.

“What? What hap-”

“Shh!” She scolded. “I hear something. Right… Over…”

She turned and ran, running across the roof faster than Max thought a cat could. He simply watched as she disappeared, turning a corner and then falling silent.

The sound of music caught Max’s attention, emanating from the now lit up door of his downstairs neighbors. He turned, looking at the dancing lights that accompanied the music, beckoning him into the apartment.

He followed, opening the door and looking around the hallway. This was where the kid’s mudroom used to be, but now it was a hallway with a velvet curtain hiding the rest of what he assumed would be their home. Max walked down the hall, up to the velvet curtain, cautiously peeking behind it.

A great, big theater laid out in front of him, music still spilling out from somewhere hidden behind the curtained stage. The seats each had someone sitting in them, and as Max looked closer, he realized they were all dogs like Sasha and Erin and Tabii.

He walked down the hallway, looking for an open seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. He jumped at first, but then saw Neil standing in the front row, waving for Max to sit down next to him.

Max sat in the seat, looking around as the lights dimmed in the theater. Music kept playing, loud and exhilarating as the curtains opened.

An orchestra was laid out neatly across the stage, bows moving and strings being picked though no one was holding instruments. In front of the instruments was Harrison, conducting the whole stage to meet the swings of the music.

He turned to look at his audience, amber button’s meeting Max’s eyes. Harrison smiled at him before a cloud of smoke burst from the floor below him, letting him disappear into thin air. And, with another flash, the instruments vanished too, music still playing through the theater.

Flames poured in from around the stage, swirling around as if they were dancing around each other. They all turned circling around in a tower from the center of the stage.

Suddenly, the swirling tornado of fire burst, showing Nerris posed in center stage. She lifted her hand up, calling for the flames to follow her. They rushed them all to her hand, creating a dense ball of fire, looking so tense Max thought it was about to burst.

When it did, it erupted to form a great dragon made of flames. It roared, making everyone in the crowd cheer. The dragon dived onto Nerris, grabbing her before flying off-stage.

Harrison took this as a challenge. With another cloud of smoke, he re-appeared on the stage, right in the center. The music got quiet, building up a anticipation in Max as he watched Harrison flick his wrist to reveal a deck of cards.

He simply shuffled the deck for a moment, sliding the cards through his fingers for a moment. Then, with a sly grin and music swelling in the background, he tossed the cards into the air high above him. Each card increased tenfold in size in midair, Harrison manipulating them to fall perfectly into a house of cards.

He stood straight up, lifting his arms and making himself levitate up, spotlight following him. He carefully stood atop his house of cards, prideful in his work.

Another booming roar sounded out over the music, intense and fast as Nerris’ fiery dragon called out from behind Max. He turned to look, seeing the dragon standing on the balcony as it roared fiercely. Nerris stood atop it’s head, wielding a staff. The dragon beat it’s wings once, lifting it into the air for a moment before diving down, whirling passed Max and Neil who were awing at the beast.

It’s claws whipped passed Max’s face, and he could feel the heat from it’s flames lick his face. The dragon slammed itself into the house of cards on stage, but before Harrison’s work could be destroyed, he used his power to hold his cards in the air and carefully place them to form an arch  around the stage - almost like a frame for a picture of legends and tales.

Nerris jumped down from the head of her pet, facing Harrison directly. Though the space between them was empty, the air was sparked with tension.

“So, Harrison,” Nerris said, her voice powerful and loud even above the intense music. “It has come to this.”

“You should have known, witch! My powers could defeat yours any day. It was just a matter of time.” Harrison replied with. Nerris lifted her hand, prepared to command her dragon. Still, she smiled.

 _“Your_ powers? Defeat _mine?_ Laughable!” She cackled in the magician’s presence. “Ignus, attack!”

The dragon lifted itself up, hissing loudly. Harrison held up his hand, pouring all of his power into holding the dragon back. His spell did not work the way he had wishing it would, as the dragon launched itself towards Harrison.

Max almost shielded his eyes, but before the dragon’s flames could swallow Harrison whole, it split from the head down. Two dragons turned away from each other, swallowing both of the children on stage along with Harrison’s cards in flames.

The flames died down, and the music faded. The smoke finally cleared to reveal Harrison’s house of cards, rebuilt and even bigger with the pair of magic kids standing on top, each posing with the two fiery dragons. Music swelled with a sense of finality, ending strongly as the kids bowed.

The dogs cheered, howling and thumping their tails happily. Max and the Other Neil applauded for the pair of kids. They bowed once again, waving their farewell as the curtain closed.

Max took a moment to stare at the partially charred stage that he could see, the light of the dragons peeking out from under the curtain. The light swelled for a moment, before flickering out altogether.


	11. If You Want To Stay - Part One

“Was it wonderful, Max?” Daniel asked as Max and Neil approached the front door. All of Max’s usual abrasiveness flew out the window thinking back on the show.

“Yeah! Nerris had a giant ass dragon made out of fire and fought Harrison with it, and he split it in half and the whole stage got burned and-” Max cut himself short, realizing just how out of character it was for him. He stopped to just smile for a minute, looking at his feet. “It was awesome.”

Daniel smiled at the short kid in front of him, leading him back into the house. Max turned to Neil, who stood on the first step to watch as his friend walked into his home.

“Bye, Neil!” Max said, smiling at his friend. Neil waved back, smiling with closed lips. But when Max turned around to head deeper into the home, he looked at his feet and frowned. Daniel saw this and glared at the boy.

Neil looked about ready to say something, but when he tried to pull his lips apart, the stitches just stretched and pulled at him again, making him wince in pain. Daniel smiled maliciously, then widely and brightly, pointing at his lips before scowling and walking back into his home.

 

“You do like it here, don’t you, Max?” Daniel asked as he collected dinner’s dishes. Max was taken by surprise at the question. 

“Hell yeah! This place is the best thing since…”  _ Since the essay I got a 100 on and David framed it and keeps it in the living room. _ Max didn’t say the thought, but still thought about it for a moment. “Since I don’t know when!” He wasn’t quite sure what he was saying it for; was it to let Daniel hear what he wanted to hear? Or was there truth in what he had decided to say?

He couldn’t figure it out.

“You…” Daniel sounded almost bashful in his speech, but his button eyes glinted with malice. “You could stay here forever… If you want to.”

Max shoved away the foreboding sense of fear in his stomach, heart leaping at the idea that maybe he  _ could _ stay here forever. Have a real home, a real family, a place that he could actually stay. “I can?”

“Of course!” Daniel said, turning to Max with a smile. He approached the boy who still sat at the table. “We could do anything you wanted, there’s just one little thing we’d have to do, first.”

“What is it?” Max asked. Daniel hummed for a moment as he thought.

“Well… How about I just show you?” He asked.

Max was hesitant for a moment. “Okay…” He said, apprehensively. Daniel smiled softly before leaving the room, silent in his steps.

When he returned, he held a small black box, the top tied on with a baby blue ribbon. Daniel put it on the table in front of Max, then walked over to hold Jen’s hand.

Max started to think that sense of fear in his stomach was right. He looked down at the box before pulling at the string, watching the bow it was tied into fall apart. He removed the top and gaped at what he saw in the box.

The present was a small spool of black thread, and tied to it was a sharp and shiny needle. Next to it, a pair of shiny black buttons glistened in the kitchen’s light.

“Black is traditional,” Daniel started. Max’s heart was racing, pulse pounding in his throat as he stared up at the blond. “But if you’d prefer something different, like… Cerulean,” He tapped his eye, and with that, it turned to a bright shade of blue-green. “Or maybe mahogany?” He tapped it again, and the button turned to a dark shade of red.

_ “No fucking way!”  _ Max yelled, throwing the box away from him as he stood up, backing away from Daniel. “You are  _ not _ sewing buttons into my  _ eyes!”  _

Daniel stopped smiling, instead favoring a sad and somber look. “Max…” He started, approaching the kid. “We need a yes. If you want to stay.”

Jen held the needle in her hand, twirling it between her fingers and letting the thread get twisted in between them. “You won’t feel a thing, hun.” She said, sounding soft and hopeful.

“No!” Max said stiffly. “I’m- I’m going to bed! Now!” He said, turning around. 

Daniel laid a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “It’s so early, why don’t you-” He sounded almost wounded, but Max couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty.

“Yeah, I’m really,  _ really _ tired. Goodnight!” He pushed Daniel’s hand away, but before he could turn to run out of the kitchen, he saw Jen standing in the doorway. He felt himself shrink, trying to back away only to bump into Daniel.

“Don’t worry, Max, I can tuck you in if you-”

“Nope! I’m all good, thanks!” He shoved passed Jen, rushing towards the stairs. He raced up them, and when he finally found himself in his room, he slammed the door shut.

“What’s wrong, Max?” A tiny voice whispered to him. The small, fluttering paper cranes carefully hovered behind him, speaking to him. “Don’t you  _ want _ to stay?”

Max didn’t even answer them, He swiped his hand, grabbing them and crumpling them up before throwing them into the small trash bucket next to his bed.

“You have to do this if you want to stay, Max!” The stuffed animals on his shelves called to him. He yelled as he grabbed the toy, shoving it into the trash bucket and turning it over, hoping it meant they wouldn’t come out to harass him. 

Max quickly shut off the lights and threw himself into his bed, covering his head with the blankets.  _ Go to sleep, go to sleep, _ he muttered to himself, trying to will unconsciousness to him.

_ “You won’t feel a thing.” _

_ “We need a yes.” _

_ “Don’t you  _ want _ to stay?” _

Max felt a sick twist of guilt in his stomach when, for a moment, he genuinely considered it. He cursed at himself, repeating the phrase in his head.  _ Go to sleep, go to sleep. _

Slowly but surely, unconsciousness found it’s grip on Max, and all he could do was hope that he would be back home when he woke up.

_ “We need a yes, if you want to stay.” _

_ Don’t I? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	12. Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

The light hit Max’s face with warmth. He breathed in shakily, trying to grab his bearings for a moment when he came to a realization. He jumped out from bed, calling out.

“David? Gwen?” He yelled.

But when he finally focused in on the room around him, it was still the same dream he’d been living in. This same nightmare, where the full moon sat outside of his window, shimmering next to the night sky of stars.

Max felt shock settle in. He flung open the door to his bedroom, going down the stairs with a seething glare on his face. He tried to go to the living room, shocked to find that the sliding door had been pulled closed and locked. David and Gwen couldn’t move that door if they tried.

_ But David And Gwen aren’t here. _

Max kept pulling against the strength of the door, trying desperately to open it. He was about ready to start screaming when he heard the sound of one, haunting piano key getting played, over and over again.

He rushed to the sound, swinging open the door to Jen’s music room with force. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes as his heart raced, but he would not let his fear make him look weak or small. He stood with nothing but anger in his gaze as he saw Jen sat at her piano, tapping at the keys one by one.

“You!” Max yelled, as if he needed to catch more attention than he had already gotten. “Where the fuck is Daniel? I want to go home.” He demanded.

Jen turned around, and she looked almost sickly; her skin was faded from it’s normal tawny tone, and she had deep and defined circles around her eyes. Her blonde locks were taken out of their usual ponytail, instead falling around her head dry and thin looking.

She managed to pull up a smile, but it was weak and faltering as she spoke. “All will be well once Father’s fed.” She said, her voice raspy and slow and sharp at the edges. “His strength is our strength.”

Max felt unsettled at her tone, but stayed strong anyways. He opened his mouth to speak when Jen gasped, pulling a hand tight around her mouth. She pulled it away for just a moment to comment, “Must not speak when Father isn’t around.” She spoke to no one, staring through Max with icy blue buttons.

“Fine!” Max yelled once again. “If you won’t help me, the Other Neil will. Fuck you.” He turned to leave the room, but stopped when Jen spoke again.

“No point in that, Max.” 

Her delirious and sing-song voice began to adopt a joyful tone. The kid turned to look at her once again, watching as she put her fingers to the corners of her mouth and pulled it into a frown.

“He pulled a  _ loooong faaaace,” _ She slurred, pulling her lips into an impossibly deep frown. Max shuddered watching as her mouth stretched like melting wax to meet her pulling.  _ “And your Father didn’t like that.” _

Max turned and slammed the door shut, yelling as he ran away from the woman who began cackling like a witch. “He is not my father!” He felt a painful clench in his chest, cringing at the memory that the phrase had brought back to life.

It was the second month he was with David and Gwen, and progress reports had just been sent home with kids and Max’s grades were all near-failing once again. Max had hid in his room and left the paper on the table, and when David tried to talk to him about it he found himself hiding. Getting defensive quickly, changing the topic, or even physically leaving the room.

Max was running through the garden as the memory flashed through his head. Remembering when David sat him down on the bed during that cold November. Remembering the way he was so quick to anger, so quick to tell his foster parent those words. “You can’t tell me off about my shitty grades! You’re not my father!”

Of course, David was hurt by it. That’s all he wanted to be to Max. But he had shoved that aside, instead favoring to speak to Max in a comforting tone. 

“No,” He’d said, “I’m not. But I don’t want to tell you off, I just want to be there for you. I don’t care if your grades are all perfect or all failing. I just want you to talk to me about it, okay?”

Max stopped his running. He hadn’t realized it, but he had run all the way through the garden and passed the dead fruit trees that had always been so far away from the house. He huffed, trying to catch his breath; running and crying at the same time is not a good idea.

He wiped away the tears in his eyes, sighing as  he calmed himself down.  _ All I need to do is find a way out of here, _ he reasoned.

With a bit more resolve than he had before, he pulled himself back to walking, hoping to find an exit somewhere away from the house. A small  _ mrrow  _ sounded out by his feet, making him look down at the pink-eyed cat that followed him.

“Where are we going?” Nikki asked.

The trees began to stop looking like real life - they became blocky and fuzzy, as if it was getting foggy.  _ “I’m _ getting out of here.” He said adamantly. He kept walking as the trees faded completely into the whiteness that surrounded him and Nikki, looking around confused. “The fuck is this? Shouldn’t that well be out here?”

“Nope. He only made what he thought wound impress you, and he didn’t think some smelly well would make you happy.” Nikki explained. Max looked around at the whiteness that surrounded them, looking at his shadowless feet and the blank, white sky above him.

“Why is he doing this?” He asked, not fully expecting an answer.

“From what I heard, it was some sort of deal. He could be super powerful as long as he had something to get power from.” Nikki pondered out loud. “Or maybe he just likes something to eat.”

Max shuddered at the thought, trying for a moment to convince himself that Daniel  _ wouldn’t _ do that before realizing that he didn’t know that for sure. He sighed, favoring to keep walking.

The trees started to reappear, along with the sky and grass that decorated the scenery. In the distance, Max could see the house come back into to view. “What?” He gawked. “How can you walk away from this thing and come  _ back _ to it?” He asked.

“You walk around the world!” Nikki replied, impossibly optimistic. Max was about to respond when the she-cat stiffened, then threw herself into a hunting crouch.

A small squeaking sounded out, and from behind a tree, one of Preston’s mice hopped out. It sniffed around, and Nikki launched itself towards the mouse and tossed it into the air with one paw.

“Hey, that’s-”  _ One of Preston’s mice. _ His thought was cut off as Nikki bit down on the mouse’s throat, killing it. It’s limp body morphed, going from the smooth-furred mouse to a patchy and feral-looking rat. Sawdust leaked out of it’s mouth, like it was a toy that had just been ripped open.

“I hate rats.” Nikki commented before she picked up the dead rodent, happily leaping away.

_ Good kitty. _

 

Max shuddered as he looked at the front door of the house. The wood on the outside was starting to rot, and he wondered how he hadn’t noticed it sooner.  _ Or did it just get like this now? _ He couldn’t remember, or really bring himself to care to.

He sighed for a moment, then pulled out an umbrella from the stand by the door. Then, with a small catch of his breath, he entered the home.

It was dead silent. Not even Jen’s piano sounded out through the home - the only sound Max could hear was his own racing heart. He carefully stepped forwards, holding his breath to listen for something other than the wood creaking beneath his feet.

Slowly but surely, he made his way to the living room’s door, still locked. He quickly jammed the umbrella he held in between the wall and the door, pulling like it was crowbar until he heard the door snap open loudly.  _ Shit. _

When no one came after him, he made his way into the pitch black living room. He quickly made a beeline for the little door, but something else was ready for him.

It was a dresser, tall and proud, but it was shaped like a beetle on it’s hind legs. Max jumped back as the beetle seated itself on the floor in front of the door.  _ Shit! _

Lights slowly brightened the room. The whole place had been transformed, like it was some sort of bug museum. Where there used to be radiators there were now giant caterpillars, and the rest of the furniture was no different.

“They say even the proudest spirit,” Max heard Daniel’s voice echo out through the room, and he whipped around to see the blond sitting on a large bug sofa. “Can be broken with love.”

Max didn’t reply. He simply glared at the seated man, staying completely still despite the fact that his whole world was spinning around him.

Something picked him up suddenly - one of the insect chairs, grabbing him and pushing him to sit down. Max cursed and struggled against the seat, but it’s grip didn’t loosen.

“Of course, chocolate never hurt anyone, now did it?” Daniel asked. He grabbed a small box, removing the top to reveal chocolate covered bugs. Still moving.

“No. Fuck you.” Max spoke as if  _ Fuck You _ was, or even could be a fact. Daniel looked hurt for a moment, but his gaze turned to anger as he put down the box of chocolates. “I want to go home. To my  _ real _ home.” 

“How dare you speak to your father this way?” Daniel asked, voice stern as he straightened his posture.

“You’re no father! Let alone mine!” Max hollered, struggling against the bug chair again. Daniel stood up, a deep and wavering frown on his face.

“Apologize!” He demanded. Max leaned forwards, no hint of fear in the way he stared at Daniel, fiery and biting.

“No.”

Daniel looked enraged for a split moment, trying to keep his composure. “I’ll give you to the count of three to say sorry to me.” He said. Max’s gaze didn’t falter.

“One,”

It was an eerie sound, one similar to the one Jen made when making her insane frown just earlier. The sound of skin stretching, bones creaking to accommodate for inhuman misshapen-ness. 

“Two,”

Daniel stood taller, growing taller, getting thinner somehow as he loomed over Max. Though he tried to keep his angry expression, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from shrinking in the face of the Other Father, skin and bones and like a supermodel on steroids.

**“Three!”** He screamed the words, quickly swiping his long and bony fingers to grab Max by the hair and pull him out of the chair by force. Max yelped in pain, fighting against the spider-like man as he dragged him down the hallway.

“Let me go, you fucking asshole! What the hell-” Max was cut off by his own scream as he realized he was being thrown into the mirror at the end of the hallway, and for a split second he thought it might be the end-

But then he found himself in a dark and dimly lit room, being dropped harshly on the ground by his hair. He turned and quickly looked up at Daniel, who had become sharp edges and pointed teeth as he leaned in from the other side of the mirror.

“You can come out when you’ve learned to be a loving son.” He said, baby blue buttons glaring at him for a moment. Then he pulled back, going back through the other end of the mirror as if it was water.

Max leaped to action, trying to follow the man out of the mirror. But when he reached his hands towards it, it was thick and solid glass, the see-through qualities fading to the same dark blue-green that the rest of the walls were.

“Let me out! Let me out of here, you- You-” Max felt his insults melt away into a sob, and he stopped for a moment.

His fight left him, leaving him to fall to his knees and rest his forehead on the wall. He just breathed, silently cursing himself because  _ how could I let myself fall for this? I should have known better, why didn’t I just think? _

His thoughts were cut off by a wail, like someone crying, sobbing behind him. He turned, looking around the dark, ocean colored room. In the corner, there was a bed. The middle of it had given out, but in a solid corner of the mattress, a light shone from under an old blanket.

The creature sobbed again, voices on top of it’s voice.

“Who’s there?”


	13. Who Will Be The First To Fall?

“Hush!” The creature scolded from underneath it’s cover. “You must be quiet, lest the Harvestman hear.” His voice sounded like it used to be kind, used to be full of good nature until he became part of this world. Now, he was a being of fear.

“You… You mean the Other Father?” Max asked, beginning to approach the glowing creature. When it didn’t answer, he made his way across the room to it and cautiously pulled away the blanket hiding it.

It was not one creature, though. It was three  _ children. _

The one in the front couldn’t have possibly been older than nine. He had short curls and an astronaut costume on, and curled into himself at seeing Max. He turned his head, and if he’d not traded his eyes for buttons, he might have been crying. His face was carved into a permanent frown.

The second ghost was a tall teenage girl, long hair falling down her back. She was moderately thin and wore a leather jacket, and when she saw Max, she looked down to her feet. Ashamed.

The last ghost was the one Max had heard speaking. His hair was longer than the first boy’s, but not by much. He wore a collared shirt and sat straight up, seeming to be protective of the two other ghosts with him. He didn’t look quite as miserable as the other two glowing children - he just looked homesick.

Max felt a strange bubbling of emotions in his stomach, not sure how to react. “Who are you?” He asked.

The small ghost boy began hovering towards him, the other two fading for the moment. His mouth didn’t move as he spoke, but his light got a bit brighter with every word that came out. “Don’t remember our names,” he said, sad in his tone. “But I remember my real dad.”

Max felt goosebumps rise up as the ghost circled him aimlessly. “Why are you all here?” He asked. The ghost stopped, turning to him as the other two reappeared next to him.

All at once, they answered. “The Harvestman.”

The girl ghost began circling Max as the other two faded. “He spied on our lives through that deceitful doll’s eyes…” She trailed off and faded away, letting the small boy take over.

“And He saw that we weren’t happy.”

The taller boy spoke now, circling Max with the other two. “He lured us away with treasures and treats, gave all that we asked.”

The girl, “Yet we still wanted more.”

All of the children flew up to the ceiling, then disappeared. Max looked around, confused, as caught his reflection in the shiny walls of the small room.

They showed him an image of himself, but where his eyes should have been there was now a glistening pair of buttons. Max jumped away from the image, trying shake it out of his head.

“So we let him sew the buttons.” The tall ghost boy explained. He passed through the wall, drifting back towards the bed with the other ghosts.

“He told us that he loved us.” The little boy sobbed mournfully.

“But he locked us in here.” The girl spoke softly, comfortingly somehow.

The ghost children all found themselves floating slowly back to the sunken bed. They spoke in unison once more. “He ate up our lives.” They explained. The blanket Max had pulled away from them earlier found it’s way back up, crawling over them before they faded away once again.

“Well.” Max sighed. “He can’t keep me stuck in here forever. Not if he wants to win this fucked up game of his.” Max made his way back to the wall that he had come from, and he put his hands on there as if he could somehow hope his way through the wall. The light returned to the room, and Max turned around to look - the ghost children all stood there. Waiting. “Beating him is my only chance, then.” He confirmed.

“Perhaps,” The tall boy began, “If you do win your escape… Could you find our eyes?” He asked hopefully.

“He took them?” Max asked in reply.

“Yes, and hidden them.” The little boy answered.

“If you do this,” The teenager said. “We’ll finally be free.”

Max looked over the ghosts, who all waited patiently for an answer. He sighed for a moment before responding. “I’ll try.” He regretfully promised.

The ghosts nodded and faded. For a brief moment, Max wondered how the hell he was supposed to get out of here.

Then, quickly and with no warning, Max felt a hand grip his mouth, muffling his surprised yell as he got pulled back through the wall.

As soon as Max’s feet hit the hallway floor, He used all of the strength he could muster to slam his attacker to the wall. The paintings rattled, but the person still refused to let go. Max flung his back onto the wall once again, and this time the person released their grip on Max.

He huffed to catch his breath, and looked at the person who attacked him. A burlap sack had been lazily tied around the front of his face to hid it, and Max was quick to pull it off.

The Other Neil look disorientated in his slouch. Two strings were crudely tied into his face, making him smile forcefully. The smile was so forced that his lips began to part, revealing the stitches that kept his mouth shut.

Max shuddered at the image in front of him. Neil covered his face with his hands, but Max pulled them away. “He did this to you, didn’t he?” He asked.

Neil nodded.

Max sighed, anger bubbling in his chest. He untied the strings in Neil’s face, letting it fall to a somber frown. Neil grabbed his face, rubbing away the pain.

“Are you-”

“Shh!” Neil was barely able to separate his lips far enough to make the noise. Max simply nodded  in reply, understanding the urgency of the situation. Neil pulled himself off the ground and grabbed Max’s wrist, running straight into the living room.

Neil walked up to the beetle dresser, quickly pushing it. Max helped shove it to the side, only to find it falling to the ground with a loud  _ thunk. _

“Max?” Daniel called from upstairs. “Is that you?”

“Shit!” Max whispered. “Come on, let’s go!” He pulled open the small door, looking into the tunnel.

If places could go rotten, this one certainly had. The purple and blue lights had completely disappeared, traded for a dark yellow that made it look like an apple that had been left out too long. Spider webs had collected in it, and dust was in piles as big as Max’s hands in the crevices of rotten fabric. 

Max gaped at the state of the tunnel for a moment. “Max?” Daniel called once again. The tunnel rattled as something moved upstairs, and Max turned to Neil.

“You can’t stay here, he’ll hurt you.” Max tried to explain, but the words couldn’t come out right. Neil shook his head somberly. He removed one of his gloves, showing a dry and falling apart hand.

With nothing but a simple push of air from his barely parted lips, his hand fell to dust. Max watched, and somehow, he understood.

“Max?!” Daniel’s feet clicked with each step on the stairs, and his long and thin legs could been seen from the living room where Max and Neil sat. “How dare you disobey your father!” He scolded.

Neil looked at Max, then crudely shoved him into the tunnel and slammed the door shut. Max ran on his instincts, running down the tunnel as fast as he could, pulling webs out of the way as he ran. Behind him, he could hear Daniel, yelling for him. All it did was push him forwards.

Finally, he tumbled into the little door on the other end, letting himself fall into his home. He pulled himself off the ground quickly, turning to the door and locking it before yelling out.

“I’m home!”


	14. Trying To Imagine Giving It Away

No one answered him when he called out.

Max looked around the house, peeking around every corner for his foster parents. “David? Gwen?” He called again, looking into the computer room in the hopes of seeing someone in there.

He made his way to the kitchen, seeing David’s reusable grocery bags on the table.  _ Why would he just leave these out? _ The kid wondered, reaching for the bags.

It was too late for the groceries to be spared, as when Max looked into the bag, the meat was spoiled and attracted flies. The fruits and vegetables looked no better. He let out a noise of disgust before taking the food and putting it all into the trash.

A knock on the door caught his attention quickly, and before he knew it, Max was running to the door. He swung open the door as fast as he could, hoping that it was David or Gwen.

But instead, Neil stood awkwardly in front of him. The real one, the one with soft blue eyes and not buttons, the one that talked too much. Max sighed.

“Great, it’s you.” He said sarcastically to the kid in front of him. Neil shifted, then laughed awkwardly.

“Uh, yeah,” He started, gaze avoiding Max. “So, uh, you know that doll I gave you?” He asked. Max nodded suspiciously. “Um… My-my grandpa said he wants it back. It was his friend’s… The one that, uh, disappeared?”

Max’s eyes widened with realization. “You stole it!”

“Well! It-it looked just like you and I figured-”

Max grabbed Neil’s wrist and dragged him into the house, talking rapid-fire. “First it was this 80’s movie reject, then some emo-ass teenager’s; then it was a little kid in an astronaut costume and…” He trailed off, realizing something else. “Your grandpa’s friend! That must have been him!”

Neil stuttered in response. “I-I’m not supposed to-” Max ignored the boy’s protests, leading him into the living room and showing him the tiny, locked door.

“There.” He stated, pointing the door. Neil looked at the door, and reached for the key “Don’t unlock it!” Max scolded.

“What? Why?” Neil asked, holding his hands by his chest nervously.

“Because there’s a crazy-ass half-spider guy in there that looks like David!” Max yelled. Neil nodded, pretending that he understood what Max was trying to explain to him.

“Can I just have the doll please?” He asked.

“Yes! Good!” Max exclaimed, beginning to walk towards the stairs that led to his room. “Please, take that little Devil off my hands.” Max grabbed Neil’s wrist, dragging him up to move faster.

He swung the door to his room open, immediately rummaging around to find the doll. When he didn’t see it on his bed or the chair next to it, he practically growled.

“Why is it so important?” Neil asked.

“Because it’s that shit-head’s spy!” Max bursted out once again. “He uses it to figure out what’s wrong with your life and then makes it look better on his side!”

Neil was taken aback. “The doll is my grandpa’s spy?” He asked, though he was mostly concerned with why Max was calling his grandfather a shit-head.

“No! Daniel, the Other Father, whatever you wanna call him - it’s his. He’s got this whole other world behind that door where everything is better, the food, the garden, the neighbors-” Max yelled. He sighed as he realized the doll was probably gone, taken by Daniel.

Neil just nodded again. “Uh, well- I think… I think my grandpa’s calling for me. I better get going.” He said, backing towards the door.

But Max saw right through him. “Okay. Fine. You don’t believe me, that’s fine, whatever. I can’t find your stupid doll, I’ll bring it to you when I can. Ask your cat about it, Nikki saw the whole thing!” He exclaimed suddenly. Internally, he cursed at himself. He knew he was probably obsessing over it too much, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Yeah. I’m sure she did.” Neil said, even more nervous.

“You’re not listening to me!” Max threw his arms in the air, frustrated. Neil grabbed the door frame, ready to bolt.

“That’s because you’re  _ crazy!” _ He said, then turned the corner and ran down the stairs. Max yelled and gave chase, following him down the stairs hastily. Neil bolted out of the door, and Max didn’t hesitate as he slammed it shut, listening to his neighbor pedalled away on his bike.

He sighed, pulling his hands through his nest of dark hair. He breathed quietly to himself, looking out of the window next to the front door. He looked around just trying to get a moment to breathe as he looked at his foster parent’s car.

The car.

The realization dawned on Max like a bat hits a baseball, and he immediately jumped out of the house to run towards the car, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

There was no one in the car, to which Max cursed at. Still, David’s phone sat in the passenger’s seat. Max quickly opened the door, grabbing the phone and dialing Gwen.

“Come on, come on,” He muttered, listening to the ringing tone.  _ “Please.” _

“Hi,” A voice on the other end began. “You’ve reached Gwen Rivera’s cell number. Sorry I couldn’t pick up-” Max hit the hang up button before the message could finish. He dropped the phone, clenching his fists as he tried to control himself.

 

_ Where did you go? _


	15. Looking For Something

The mug was hot in Max’s hands as he sat on the couch. Around him, Nerris’ father bustled around the house, grabbing books and bags and everything that he and his daughter would need.

Max didn’t know where to go when Gwen wouldn’t pick up, so he resorted to going down to the magic kids that lived below him. Nerris and her dad were getting ready to go to some LARPing event in town, but when Max came down, they said it would be fine if they were a little late.

“Plus,” Harrison added, “I’m not going, and neither is Mom. You can stay here until your parents come back.”

Max had nodded in response, still feeling dejected about his parent’s disappearance. The kids’ mom made him tea once again, which he was silently holding.

“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking,” Max started, looking to Harrison once again. “Why do you stay here? Like, where are your parents?” Harrison looked surprised at Max’s question, but answered anyways.

“Well… My parents didn’t like my powers. They were scared of me. So when Nerris’ parents found out, they talked to mine and got custody of me.” Harrison explained, looking at his adoptive parents as they got ready for the event. He almost looked sad for a moment, but a thought dawned on him and he smiled. “They’re not my real parents, but they’re better. Plus, I have the coolest sister in the world now. It was hectic when they were first getting things sorted out, but I guess that just helped make things better.”

Max nodded, feeling a growing sense of somberness in his chest as he thought over Harrison’s words again.

“What about you?” Harrison asked. “If you don’t mind talking about it, that is.”

Max shrugged. It never bothered him much, talking about how he ended up with David and Gwen. It was the before part he didn’t like to talk about. “CPS got a call about me, sent me to a foster home. I bounced around for a while, most people couldn’t handle me. Then I got sent to David and Gwen’s, and they haven’t given up on me yet.”

Harrison nodded, and seemed to be satisfied with Max’s answer. They waited in silence for another few moments before Nerris approached them, excited and bubbly and curious.

“So, your parents just disappeared?” Nerris asked him.

“Yeah. I mean-” Max wanted to explain that things had happened before they went missing, that Daniel had probably taken them, but he stopped. “Yeah.”

“I know just the charm for this!” Nerris said, smiling. “I need to practice before the Great Battle, anyways.” She stood up, running off. Harrison laughed, jumping up to run after her.

When they came back, Nerris was carrying a small glass bowl filled with candy. She put it down on the coffee table in front of Max, who stared at the bowl.

“How the fuck is bowl full of sugar gonna help me find my-” Max was cut off by the loud sound of sparks. Harrison held out his hands, and with a smile, fire spouted out from his palms and directly onto the candy. Max yelled out, jumping away from the fire.

Nerris dumped a bucket of water on top of the flaming candy, but if she was trying to salvage it, it was too late. It had melted into a puddle of green-grey sugar, colors mottled together in the bowl that had somehow survived.

Nerris used a pair of tongs to pull out a small piece of candy from the bottom of the bowl. For a second, Max thought it was a planchette used for Ouija boards, but it was the same color as the rest of the melted candy. “Here you go!” Nerris said happily.

Max turned it in his hand, feeling the smooth and almost glass-like texture of the candy. “What’s it for? What  _ was _ that?” He asked the kids.

_ “Magic!” _ Harrison said happily.

“They’re good for bad things.” Nerris said, pushing up her glasses. Harrison eyed her, confused.

“No, I thought they were good for lost things.” He said.

“No, it’s bad things for sure!”

“Lost!”

“Bad!”

“Lost!”

“Bad!” 

_ “Lost!” _

Though they were clearly arguing, they were smiling, and for some reason they started laughing at each other. Max reluctantly smiled as he held the candy and put it into his pocket.

“Well, I better get looking for David and Gwen again. Thanks for the help you two, and have fun at… The Great Battle, Nerris.”

Nerris and Harrison happily waved Max goodbye as he left the house.

By the time Max had left the house, it was dark outside. He sighed to himself, going back into his house and changing into his pyjamas.

Though, his feet led him to David and Gwen’s bedroom. It was mostly bare, a dresser and a desk tucked into the corners and a bed in the middle. And most importantly, lacking any parents.

Max sighed to himself, jumping into the big bed and clutching the white sheets. He looked around the room and pulled the blankets up to stop the growing sense of cold on his skin, looking at the clock.

8:03 PM.

Max practically heard David’s voice in his ear.  _ You should get to sleep early, to get into a good sleeping habit for school. _ He’d heard it before, after Christmas and spring break. 

_ I’ve spent so much time trying to convince myself I hate them, _ Max thought to himself,  _ and I still miss them now that they’re gone.  _

He just sighed to himself, pulling a pillow towards him and laying down, hoping sleep would come to him quickly.

 

Something soft touched his face, pressing into his cheeks. A small tickling sensation under his nose woke him up with a sneeze, and Max opened his eyes and looked around the bleary room.

A pair of bright pink eyes were locked on his when he finally focused in. “Hey, Nikki,” he said sleepily. He looked around his foster parent’s bedroom, empty of any life excepting Max and Nikki. He sighed. “How’d you get in here?”

Nikki just purred in response, kneading the soft blanket under her paws. She looked full of energy and ready to go, and her eyes flicked from the door to Max.

“Do you know where David and Gwen are?” He asked, not expecting to get an answer.

But Nikki stood up, tiny legs holding her up strongly. She jumped off the bed, tail held high as she marched out of the room. Max followed, still tired and confused as he was led through the hallway, down the stairs, through another hallway.

When they stopped at the end of the hall, he was facing a mirror. In the Other World, this had been the same one that trapped him and the ghosts in the cement room. The mirror began to glow an icy blue, and a reflection that wasn’t Max’s formed in the glass.

There, shivering and blue with cold, stood David and Gwen. Max gaped at the vision as David held Gwen, looking around with wide eyes. He looked to the mirror, and Max’s vibrant teal eyes met his green.

David leaped towards him, but when his hand met glass and not Max, his face turned to somberness. Max ran up to the mirror, his hands meeting the cold glass as he called out.

“Mom! _Dad!”_ He cried, pushing against the glass. David looked at Max, then put a finger on the frosted glass. He wrote, his finger squeaking against the ice like a small, sad bird.

_ “Be careful, stay safe” _ He wrote in the fog. The frost began to crawl up the glass once again, hiding the illusion and letting it turn back into a mirror.

Max stared at his own reflection, looking into his eyes as tears fell down his face. First just one, but as he kept staring, he began sobbing, yelling at anyone who was listening.

“Why would you take them away from me?!” He called, squeezing his eyes shut as tears fell down his face. In a desperate attempt to get this rotten feeling out of him, he began banging on the mirror, yelling and crying as he did. “They didn’t do anything to deserve this! Why would you make them hurt for it? Fuck you!”

He wasn’t even sure who he was yelling at anymore. He kept sobbing as he rampaged, banging against his reflection until the mirror shattered.

Shards dug into the sides of his fists, and he raised his hands above his head to keep any more glass from falling on him. Max fell back, onto the floor. He pulled his knees into himself, hiding his face as he continued to cry.

Soft fur pushed itself into Max’s side, and he hiccuped as he looked over to Nikki. She looked up at Max once again, and rested her head on his leg.

Max sighed shakily, carefully petting the fluffy cat as he looked at the broken glass around him.

_ How did this happen? _ He asked himself.

How could he have let his whole world start crashing down so easily?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :^)


	16. Who The Hell Are You To Start This Chain Again?

Max found the doll.

It was hidden under his parent’s bed, no longer sewn to look like him, but double-sided to look like David and Gwen.

Maybe it was because he was so angry, so upset with himself and the world around him that he put it in the fireplace and watched it burn. Or maybe he knew it was the only way to begin breaking this chain. 

But mostly, it was just to make him feel better about his own stupid mistakes.

Max watched the fire as it engulfed the doll, Nikki watching the flames next to him. He was glad that Daniel had filled it with sawdust - it just made it that much easier to burn.

“They’re not coming back, are they?” He asked rhetorically. Even though he was just thinking out loud, Nikki listened. “Not on their own.”

The pair looked to the little door, and Max sighed.

“I guess we have to…”  _ Go back. _ He didn’t want to say it, but he didn’t have to. Nikki knew, and gave a small nod as Max stood up and made his way to his bedroom.

He quickly changed from his pyjamas to his normal outfit; t-shirt, hoodie, jeans, sneakers. He also grabbed a pair of sewing scissors for a weapon, shoving it into his hoodie pocket.

As he did, the small green-grey piece of candy fell out of his pocket. For a moment Max considered just leaving it, but with a second thought he decided that it was better take it and not need it than leave it and miss it.

Max walked back down the stairs, meeting Nikki in front of the door. With as much bravery as he could muster, he turned the key to the crawl space door and opened it.

He began crawling through the tunnel when Nikki spoke to him. “You don’t think this is just a trap?” She asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Max answered harshly. “But they’re my parents. I…” He thought for a moment before cursing to himself. “I don’t want to lose them, too.”

Nikki looked at Max, no clear expression on her face. “Challenge him then. He loves games. He doesn’t play  _ fair, _ but you’re smart. You just gotta out-cheat him!” She said. Max nodded, thinking it over for a moment before a familiar voice called out to him.

“Max?” David’s voice reached out to him. The door on the other end opened, and there he stood, back-lit in blue. “Max! You came back for us!” He called again, relieved and happy.

“David!” He yelled, running towards him. He threw his arms out to hug his foster parent-

But the hands that held him were not his father’s. Daniel’s voice was almost comforting in the way it reached out to Max. “Why would you run away from me?” He asked the kid.

But Max shoved him away, cursing at himself for falling for Daniel’s tricks. He stood tall, though he couldn’t dream of matching up to the spider-man’s height. “Where are my parents?” He asked sternly.

Daniel put a needle-sharp finger up to his chin, humming in mock-thoughtfulness. “Gosh, I have no idea where your  _ old _ parents are. Maybe they got tired of dealing with you, just like the other families you got put with.”

Max felt something in him snap, the same anger that caused him to break the mirror at home. He silently clenched his fists, trying to contain it. “They would  _ never _ do that to me.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I mean, if your birth parents couldn’t even handle you…” Daniel started, but cut himself short. “Regardless. Why don’t you take a seat?”

Before Max could even move, a pair of hands gripped his shoulders, flattening his arms to his sides. Jen giggled as she carried Max to a bug shaped chair that, as soon as the kid was placed in it, strapped him down like a baby’s high chair.

Max heard a scurrying from the tunnel he came from, and looking at it, he saw a rat in circus attire make it’s way out. The button key that Max had left in the door was in it’s mouth, and it dropped the key next to Daniel.

The blond picked up the key, locking his side of the portal door before raising the key into the air. He smiled as he dropped it into his mouth, swallowing it like a frog catching a fly.

“Why don’t you have your own key?” Max asked abruptly.

“There’s only one key, Ma- Ow!” Jen began to speak, but Daniel pulled one of her dry locks to shut her up.

“Shh!” He scolded. Jen looked sad and apologetic for a moment, before Daniel offered a comforting suggestion. “The garden needs tending to, don’t you think, love?”

Jen beamed at this suggestion, smiling as she turned around and marched out of the room, singing to herself. “Squish, squash, pumpkin sauce,” She muttered joyously. Max heard her leave the house, and Daniel walked to the kitchen, leaving Max alone in the living room for a moment.

Knocking. Max looked around, trying to find the source of it. “David? Gwen?” He whispered, looking for them. At the sound of their names, they knocked once again.

“Max? Breakfast time!” Daniel called. At the sound of his words, the bug-chair’s binds loosened, letting Max get up. He knew he should be getting to the kitchen, but he was determined to find David and Gwen as fast as possible.

He explored the room, listening around for the knocking. He couldn’t hear it well, but as he got closer to the fireplace, it got louder. He looked above the mantle, eyes meeting the painting above it for a moment before he turned to run towards the kitchen quickly.

Max breathed in deeply to soothe his shaking nerves before walking into the kitchen, sitting down at the table. In the center of it, the box that Daniel had gifted Max lay open, showing off the glinting plastic and sharp needle. His heart thrummed in his chest, and every part of his body was telling him to say  _ “Fuck it” _ and run.

But he stayed calm, and spoke to Daniel as he cooked. “Why don’t we play a game?” He asked, looking at his hands as they rested on the table. “You like them.”

Daniel’s eyes glinted as he flipped an omelette, replying. “Everyone likes games.” He replied. The smell of bacon drifted towards Max, damnably tempting. “What kind of game would it be?”

“You hide things, I find them.”

Daniel didn’t do much other than run his fingers along the table, nails eerily scratching against the rotting wood. “And what is it you’d be finding, Max?” He asked, almost condescending in his tone. Max clenched his fists, frustrated with Daniel.

“My parents.”

Daniel sneered at his response. “Too easy.”

“And the eyes of the ghost children.” 

Daniel seemed to like this response. He put food onto a plate, turning to bring it to Max as he spoke softly. He put pride in his every step, and that made Max even more wrathful than before. “And what if you don’t find them?”

“If I lose,” Max breathed in deeply before saying it. “I’ll stay. I’ll let you sew buttons into my eyes.”

Daniel smiled brightly and leaned against the counter. “And if you manage to win this game?”

“Then you let me go. You bring David and Gwen back, you let the dead children go. You let everyone you’ve ever trapped here go home.” Daniel smiled a malicious, not-in-a-million-years smile in reply. He held out his hand.

“Deal.”

Max didn’t move. 

“Not until you give me a clue.” He said. Daniel’s smile faltered for a moment, but he regained his posture quickly.

“Fine.” He spoke slowly, as if talking to a very stupid child. “For each of three wonders I made for you, a ghost eye is lost in plain sight.” He explained.

“And for David and Gwen?” Max prompted.

But Daniel didn’t move. He just smiled and tapped his eye rythmatically, sharp nails clicking against his buttons. Max sighed and stood up to meet Daniel’s gaze, realizing this was the best he was going to do.

“Fine, don’t tell me.” Max said, glaring up at Daniel. “It’s a deal.”

And with nothing but a blink, Daniel had disappeared before Max’s eyes. The tapping had changed to the dripping of the kitchen sink, and the lights in the kitchen had dimmed just a touch.

Max approached the sink, turning it off as he looked out of the window above the sink.  _ What does he mean, ‘wonders’? _ He thought.

As if in reply, the garden lit up. Max’s brows furrowed, thinking it must have been too easy of an answer. He turned, leaving the kitchen to go to the garden and silently thinking to himself.

_ Just don’t let him get away with David and Gwen. _


	17. Forget About The Others

The garden was darker now. Its magic had faded, turned to something evil, and now it was not comfortable to be in. The stone beneath Max’s feet had turned cold, and the gate he pushed through squeaked with black rust. 

The flowers all drooped low, not able to hold themselves up. If Jen had actually tended to this garden when she was told to earlier, she had done a shitty job. 

Max looked around at the flowers, heart shaped ones dripping red rivers of God-knows-what onto the pathway. They twitched as Max stared at them, and then behind them vines leapt forwards, hitting the kid with so much force that he was kicked back.

Max yelped, more surprised than he was hurt. The items from his pockets had fallen out, but before he could grab them, vines wrapped around his wrist and pulled him away.

He yelled again, pulling against the vines. He was able to pull just strong enough to grab the pair of scissors from the ground, using them to cut through the vines that held him.

They fell to the ground, immediately shriveling up and rotting. More vines reached to another item, the grey-green candy Nerris and Harrison had given him. Max quickly cut those vines too, grabbing the candy quickly.

_ Why steal this? _ He wondered, holding it up to his face. He looked through the hole in the middle of the candy, stunned by what he saw.

Through the lense of the glass, everything had turned to a blurry grey, like a pencil drawing. Max scanned the garden, looking at the colorless scenery. As he got closer to where he started, he saw something right in front of him.

It was a glowing red ember against the grey scenery, and where everything else was blurry and fuzzy it was sharp and clear. Max took the candy off his eye, reaching towards the object in the hopes it would be one of the ghost eyes -

Only to see the mechanical mantic tractor raise up from it’s garden, Jen on it’s back with a smile from ear to ear. Max gaped up at them as DragonSnap raised his claw, Jen beginning to laugh from his back.

Max turned and began running as she shifted gears, making the machine chase the kid. The machine’s claws slashed, barely avoiding Max’s hood as he lurched forwards. He turned, looking through the candy again to see that the ghost’s eye had been put in the place of one of DragonSnap’s eyes. 

Max ducked under his claws this time as they slashed to the side. “You can’t run forever, Max!” Jen yelled, still smiling on the machine’s back. “I won’t let you take him away from me!”

Max jumped onto the bridge that raised over the small pond in the center of the garden, avoiding another slash of the bug’s claws narrowly. “What the fuck are you saying? You think he loves you or something?”

Jen, taken aback by Max’s response, stopped for a moment. She continued to smile and giggle as she spoke. “Of course he loves me! He created me! He  _ has _ to love me!” She called out. She moved DragonSnap’s claws back, ready to slam down before Max replied.

“He’s using you!” He replied. Jen stopped smiling, yelling out in rage as she tried to move DragonSnap’s claws forward.

But as she did, the mantis’ claws tightened around her, picking her off of his back like she was a tick. Jen yelled out, howling with rage. “No! Let me down, you rotten robot, let me-” She was cut off as DragonSnap faced the pond, ready to drop her into the water.

She turned to look at Max, managing to show sadness through her button eyes. It changed to relief as she went limp, relaxing somehow.

“You’ll be sorry.” She said calmly before being dropped into the water, dissolving like dust on the wind. Max stared at the water as it rippled, then calmed.

The mechanical whirring of DragonSnap next to him caught his attention. Max turned to the beast, and it lowered it’s head to show the kid the ghost eye. 

Max reached out and plucked the eye of of it’s socket, and as he did, the ground beneath him began to flake. The color dissolved from the garden, And DragonSnap faded too.

The bug’s remaining light faded as he turned grey, and Max found himself a little mournful as he looked around the dead and ashen garden.

“Thank you, boy,” The eye spoke to him. Max jumped, looking at the eyes as it reflected the small ghost boy. “You have to find the other’s, too!”

“Don’t worry,” Max replied. “I’m… Getting the hang of it, I guess.” He looked around once again as the eye’s reflection faded.

Looking up at the moon, a shadow had begun to fall over it, slowly moving to cover the light.  _ Shit, _ Max thought.  _ I guess I have a time limit now. _

His thoughts were interrupted by music, the same song that had been playing from the Other Nerris and Harrison’s place. It was slowed down, now, eerie against the night sky.

Max marched towards the kid’s house, ready to face his next challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy November 18th, everyone. Here's to hoping you all stay healthy and get the help you need when you need it. Stay safe, and remember to talk to someone if you need to.
> 
> _National Survivors Of Suicide Day - Observed two days after the third Tuesday of November._


	18. Say The Things I Want To Hear You Say

Max saw his own flickering shadow before he saw the curtain. The theater’s lights had been dimmed so dark, Max could barely see his own hand in front of his face when the door had closed behind him.

He looked around, squinting in the dark before remembering his iPod in his pocket. He took it out, switching on the flashlight and looking around past the curtain.

Everything was coated in shadow, excepting the stage. Two spotlights show on a giant dragon made of thin paper and wire, and the shadow of a fugue float in the middle of it’s stomach. Max walked closer to the stage before pulling the triangle candy to his eye again.

Just as he thought, the shadowy figure in the dragon’s stomach held the second ghost eye, glowing a soft shade of faded pink. Max was eager to approach the prop, but a growl pulled his attention away from the stage.

Looking around, he saw the flash of movement by the ceiling. Hanging from there, dogs of all different breed and sizes lurked on the beams holding up the ceiling, demon-like wings sprouting from their backs. A thin and large dog growled at Max, but didn’t leap.

_ I really hope I don’t have to hurt a dog just to get my parents back, _ he thought as he approached the stage once again, quieter now. He climbed up, trying to be as quiet as possible as he approached the paper dragon’s stomach.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself before punching a hole through the paper. Dogs growled, but after a moment, they calmed back down, letting Max reach for the eye inside.

_ A stick? _ He questioned it as he pulled it from the paper. Pulling it closer, he saw it was a staff, hand-like branches holding the eye at the top of the stick. Max smiled triumphantly as he reached to grab the stone.

But before he could pull it off, a strong and harsh hand grabbed his wrist. Max yelled in surprise, pulling away.

Harrison scratched his way through the paper, his face demented and wrathful as he reached for Max. Nerris bursted through on the other side of Max, and the two called out in unison. “Thief! Thief! Give it back, you thief!” They called.

“No! Fuck you!” Max retorted angrily. The Other Nerris grabbed for Max’s arm, trying to pull him in but he was stronger.

“Thief! Thief!” They kept crying. Max kept pulling away, but the arms that held the staff just stretched. Harrison pulled the dragon closer to Max with his free hand, yelling and screeching like it was the end of the world.

Max’s strength faltered, and his heart skipped a beat at the feeling he might be dragged into the magic kids’ trap. He turned, looking around in the hopes of finding a way to escape this.

The hellhounds above him growled, and he got an idea. With his free hand, he threw his iPod into the crowd of demon dogs. Immediately they reacted, barking and rioting. As they leaped towards him, wings spread and teeth bared, Max started to think this was a bad idea.

But Nerris and Harrison screamed as the dogs smashed into the giant paper dragon. Their grip loosened, and Max pulled his arm and the staff from their clutches.

He dived out of the way, and tumbled off the side of the stage. He jumped to his feet quickly, and at seeing the dogs charging towards him, he pulled the ghost eye out of the staff.

The second he did, color and motion flaked away from the whole theater, leaving the dogs stopped in mid-flight. The stone pulsed light from Max’s hand, and he looked at the reflection of the ghost in the eye.

The teenage girl spoke to him, light flickering. “You need to hurry,” She said, rushed. “His web is unwinding.” With those words, she flickered away as Max caught his breath.

He looked at the frozen scene, grey and motionless now. A smile creeped up on his face, and after looking at the ghost eye in his hand, he cheered for himself. Maybe it was the adrenaline still coursing through him, or maybe he was just  _ so damn happy to be alive, _ because he jumped around, excited and feeling ready to take on anything.

He marched out of the theater, looking up at the moon. It was almost halfway eclipsed, and now it was clear the shadow moving over it was a huge, dark, button.

_ Just one more eye,  _ Max thought,  _ then I’ll save you too, Dad. _


	19. Shadow In Your Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **November 24th, 2017**
> 
> Hey, I've been trying to space out posting chapters that I've already written but I had to get your attention. I'm really sorry to interupt, but just hear me out, okay?
> 
> For Thanksgiving, me and my mom drove 2 hours away from home to visit family. The holiday was fun, but on the way home, our car caught fire. Almost every article of clothing we had was in there, along with all of my electronics, including my phone. My mom had been planning on buying me a tablet for Christmas and had it on layaway, that's what I'm writing this for. The only things that got spared were my ukulele and my mom's phone and wallet.
> 
> We don't have much cash as it is, as we're moving to a new apartment on December 1st. Now that we're going to have to buy a new car too, we have almost no money left for replacing the clothes as items we lost in the fire. All I want to ask is for you to possibly send a few bucks our way, just so we can get some new clothes at the local Goodwill or Salvation army. My paypal is axolotlnerd@gmail.com, it would mean so so much to us if you could donate something. Anything helps, and even if you can't spare any money, that's fine!
> 
> I also made a post earlier on Tumblr, on my main blog (amirrorcalledthemoon) and my Camp Camp side blog (more-camp-camp-fic-please). If you could reblog those posts possibly too, that would mean so much to me.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading this story, and thank you even more for hearing me out on my story. Even if you can't donate, your support on this story helps me too. Thank you so much for being here. I'll update you guys as soon as I can, and please enjoy the chapter!

The stairs up to Preston’s house were rickety and rusted over, and Max almost thought they were about to collapse on him as he made his way up them. He held his breath at every creak and groan of the steps, tense and nervous.

He stopped climbing at the sight of a carving in the side of the wall. The symbol looked almost like a mirrored number four in a circle, and it looked scratchy and panicked. The symbol immediately put Max on edge, but he knew this was probably a trick to make him scared and slow him down.

Max turned to the balcony, looking around as if he expected to see Daniel there. “You bitch! I’m not scared!” He called, hoping that Daniel could hear him.

The door behind him began to creak open sinisterly, but Max refused to fall for the horror-movie-like tropes anymore. He didn’t wait for it to finish opening before he slammed it open, ready to fight the Other Preston if that’s what he needed to do.

He raged his way through the rotting hallway to the velvet curtain and pushed his way through, and saw the Other Preston on his small stage. He looked like a half cooked noodle, and held himself like he was being suspended by the base of his neck.

“Ahhh, Max, you are baaaack!” He slurred. His arms moved, trying to look welcoming but instead flailing awkwardly. Max simply glared at the boy. “Are you looking for something?” Preston raised his hand, holding the pearl his circus mice had bounced on during the performance.

Max held up his triangle candy, and saw the yellow glow of the pearl as Preston held it. “Yep! That’s the one I need. So if you could just hand it over-” Max leaped to grab the pearl, but Preston threw himself backwards, letting himself land in a back-bend and then scuttle away like a rubber crab to hide in the shadows.

“You think winning this game is a good thing?” Preston asked mournfully. Max looked through the candy, trying to find him. “You’ll just go home and be bored, watch as David and Gwen give up and send you to a new home,” He almost sounded drunk as he suspended himself behind Max, hanging from his legs on a beam. “Same as always.”

Max jumped at the sound of his voice right behind him. He whipped around, trying to grab the pearl from the teenager’s hand. Instead, the golden-eyed boy just raised his arms, ready to grab Max. The kid jumped to the side, watching as Preston’s arms crossed feebly.

“Stay here with us!” He pleaded. “We will _listen_ to you, we’ll _keep_ you!” He pushed himself back into the shadows, behind another curtain. Max chased him, trying to push his words out of his head.

He moved passed the curtain and looked around. Preston stood atop a pile of moldy cheese, and the smell made Max gag. He looked through the candy once more, seeing the yellow glow coming from Preston’s ruff.

“If you stay here, you could have whateeeeever you could eeeeeever ask foooor,” Preston said.

“You don’t get it!” Max snapped, running up to the actor.

“I don’t understaaaand!” Preston wailed in return.

“Of course you don’t! You’re just a copy that he made of the real Preston.”

“Not even _that_ anymore,” he sighed mournfully. Max grabbed a hold of his ruff, and the fabric practically fell apart in his hands. Instead of Preston’s body, rats squeaked and squealed as they ran off, as if the teenager’s skin was just a suit for them. An especially large and pale rat held the pearl as it yowled at Max, who tried to grab it.

Max narrowly missed, growling at the rodent as it ran away with the pearl. He ran after it, doing his best to keep up with the tiny creature. He followed them past the curtain, running back into the hallways with the cotton candy cannons.

The rat with the pearl squeaked, almost laughing as it stomped on the buttons that made the confection launch out. Max tried not to let the cannons throw him off track, but they were more powerful than they were the last time he was here.

The rat escaped out of the still open door, squealing maliciously. Max held the triangle candy in his hand and, hoping against hope, that when he threw the candy it would hit the rodent.

With a squeal, the rat dropped it’s pearl as it tumbled off of the rickety stairs. Max cheered, running grab the eye.

But that rat wasn’t the only one there. Another rat ran passed Max, grabbing the pearl and scurrying down the stairs and around the corner before Max even knew what happened. “No!” Max called, frantic. He skidded to a stop on the metal stairs, but the force of his stop sent the stairs crashing to the ground.

Max screamed as he got tossed to the ground, trying to brace himself before the world went black.

 

He came to lying on his side, feeling the cold and dying grass beneath his fingers. Max groaned as he pulled himself off the ground, sore all over. Blood trickled down the side of his face from a scratch on his forehead, and his jeans had ripped at the knee to show he’d scraped it badly. Max sighed, looking at the blood that dripped from his chin. _Shit,_ he thought.

Looking up at the moon, it was almost entirely covered by the shadow of a button. Nothing but cold loss ran through Max now, his resolve quickly fading as he curled into himself.

_It’s too late._

A small thump on the ground caught Max’s attention, but he didn’t bother to look up until he hear a familiar _mrrow._ Nikki’s pink eyes met Max’s bright teal, and he saw the dead rat holding it’s pearl. Sawdust leaked out of it’s neck, and Nikki groomed herself to get the remnants off herself.

“Did I mention that I hate rats?” She asked, kindness in her voice. Max smiled, getting up and walking towards her.

“I think you might have said something like that.” Max said, picking up the pearl. Around him, the color flaked away, and now everything but the main part of the house had turned to ashen grey. Even the eclipse stopped, a sliver of silver being shown from the moon. “Thank you.” Max said. Nikki purred in response. “I… I have to go back inside. I still have to find David and Gwen.”

With those words, the stalled eclipse started up again, and in a beat, the button clicked into place. Just as how the color faded from every place Max had been so far, the sky dissolved around the moon. The horizon began to flake away too, and soon enough, the disappearing ground began to catch up with Nikki and Max.

“Run!” Max called, turning to run to the house. Nikki followed quickly, but her short legs kept her from moving as fast as Max. While he jumped onto the porch and began to jump into the house, Niki was trying to avoid the ground that crumbled beneath her feet.

Max held out his arms, signalling for the tiny cat to leap to the kid as the ground fell away. He caught her and immediately turned to run into the house.

The door slammed shut behind the two, and the crackling of the world shattering around them silenced itself. Max stood against the closed door, closing his eyes and catching his breath for a moment.

Green light poured out of the living room, and Max stared at it. He looked down at the cat who huffed in his arms before approaching the living room, hoping that after this, he’d be able to go home with his parents.

_His parents._


	20. Standing Here With You, Thinking Of Someone Else

A poisonous green fire - like sleepy sea snakes - burned in the fireplace. Its smoke smelled like the word  _ cyanide _ sounds, hissing and venomous. The bug furniture had greyed now, and the room’s lights flickered as if they were short circuiting.

Max scanned the room. He knew his parents were in here; who else could that knocking have been? He couldn’t see any signs of them, only twitching and malfunctioning bug furniture.

Suddenly, he felt the room’s tension spike, and he knew something was behind him. He whipped around, looking at the tall being who sat hunched on the sofa.

“So, you’re back.” He didn’t sound right, dry and tired as he spoke. Max had only known Daniel for a short while, but he knew this was wrong. His face was so pale that it had turned paper white, cracked like broken glass along its frame. Withered to the bone, with plate-like shoulders and hips, he stood up. He towered over Max, who waited for Daniel to say something. “And you brought vermin with you.”

Max held onto Nikki tighter, and she shrunk in the spider-man’s presence. “No, I brought a friend.” Daniel stepped forwards, his waist now transformed to an arachnid’s tail-section.  _ This isn’t Daniel, _ Max told himself.  _ This is the Harvestman. _

He reached towards Max’s face, thin and clicking fingers made of needles reaching out to the child. He sounded flat and dishonest as he spoke again. “You know I love you.”

“You have a pretty fucked up way of showing it.” Max retorted back without missing a beat. The Harvestman huffed, turning away from the kid and pacing for a moment. Was he  _ nervous? _

“So?” He prompted. “Where are they? The ghost eyes?” He turned and offered his hand, hoping to see Max give him the stones. But the tiny kid didn’t move, just glaring as he spoke.

“We’re not finished yet.”

At Max’s words, the Harvestman sneered. “No, I suppose not.” His feet clicked against the creaked floorboards as he paced around the room once again. “After all, you still need to find your old…  _ ‘Parents’.  _ It is too bad you won’t have this.” He smiled as he produced Max’s triangle candy from seemingly thin air, twirling it around his finger before flinging it into the green fire.

It’s magic spat and sparked as it burned away, and Max cursed inwardly. The Harvestman laughed as it melted. From Max’s hoodie pocket, he saw a red glow, and pulled out the ghost eyes.

It was the little boy, speaking to him. “Be careful. Even if you win, he’ll never let you go.” At the junior astronaut’s words, Max began to wonder how close this kid had gotten to escaping.

Max looked up at the Harvestman again as he smiled at the fire, trying to think of what he could do. The idea hit him quickly, and though he knew it was a stupid idea, it was the only one he had.

“Who said I needed it? I already know where you hid them.” He said, trying to match the Harvestman’s arrogance. It must have worked, since the spider turned to Max with a harsh look.

“Then tell me.” He said, inches away from Max’s face now. “Tell me where I hid your poor David and Gwen.”

Max bore into the Harvestman’s buttons, not breaking eye contact as he pointed to the little crawlspace door. “They’re in there.”

The Harvestman smiled at his answer, wide and sinister. “Oh, really? They are?” He said, walking towards the little door. His movements looked forced and laboured, but he pulled himself to the door.

Nikki’s ear twitched, and she looked around. “Psst, there!” She whispered, sounding panicked. Max looked to where she was looking, and saw the painting over the fireplace. The glass of it’s frame began to frost over, and with a soft chirp, David had cleared the fog away to reveal his and Gwen’s reflection. He looked like he was trying to say something, but he couldn’t be heard through the glass.

Max looked at them, guilt and fear eating at his heart. The Harvestman began to cough, oblivious to Max’s discovery as he coughed the key into his hand. He then turned to smile at Max once again.

“Go on. Open it. They’ll be there.” Max reassured. The Harvestman pushed the key into the lock, opening it slowly.

“You’re wrong, Max,” He spoke low and in a sing-song tone as opened the door to reveal the spider web filled tunnel. “They aren’t there.”

He moved his hands to show he was now holding a threaded needle in one hand, and two shiny, black buttons in the other. He inched closer to Max, speaking in a low and threatening tone.

_ “Now you’re going to stay here forever.” _

Max braced himself, looking ready to leap. “No. I’m,” He held Nikki high above his head before yelling.  **_“Not!”_ **

With those words, Nikki was airborne, yowling in surprise. She sailed through the air, colliding with the Harvestman’s astonished face. The cat dug her claws into the spider’s face, hissing and spitting as he tried to pull her off.

“No! Let me go, you little  _ monster!” _ He yelled. Max grabbed one of the fire irons and smashed the glass of the painting as the two struggled, then bolted to the door.

The Harvestman flailed wildly as Nikki howled like a banshee. She raised her claws and, with an almost sickening  _ snap, _ pulled broke the thread of his button eyes.

“NO!” The Harvestman yelled, gripping at his face. He grabbed the cat and finally pulled her off of his face, throwing her to the ground. Nikki, caught herself and, without missing a beat, ran through the door to the real world.

Max had almost reached the door when the Harvestman stomped a foot on the ground, sending the floorboards spiraling away to reveal a spider’s web for a floor. It dipped, and Max almost found himself falling. He quickly grabbed one of the webs, listening to the Harvestman’s shriek.

“You horrible cheating boy!” He wailed, standing in the center of the web as it dipped deep into the nothingness around him. He turned, as if trying to look for Max. The kid huffed quietly as he tried to climb up the web, doing his best not to shake any of the strands. “Where are you, you  _ selfish brat?!” _

Max gasped as his hood got caught on a web. He panicked and pulled it off quickly, climbing as fast as he could when he sent a strong vibration down the spiraling web to the sensitive hands of the Harvestman.

He laughed, knowing where his prey was. He followed, climbing faster than Max but he was much farther down. “You dare disobey your  _ father?” _ He called up to the kid, who frantically tried to reach the little door above him. He grabbed the key and pulled it out of it’s hole, then quickly tried to dive in.

His needle fingers had almost grazed Max’s ankle when he ducked into the tunnel, quickly pulling at the door to close it. The Harvestman’s hands had found their way in, though, and tried to pry to door open.

“Shut! Shut, you stupid fucking-” Max yelled at the door, panicking as it started to open again -

The visions of the three ghost children appeared next to Max, all of them beginning to pull on the door with him. The door began to shut once again, and the Harvestman howled as it did. He snatched desperately at Max, reaching though the small gap with one thin, wiry hand. There was a final moment of resistance - the Harvestman’s needle wrist caught in the door - before it snapped. The hand dropped to the ground, limp.

He screeched like nails on a chalkboard. Max smiled triumphantly before the Harvestman slammed on the door, making the tunnel jump shorter. Max jumped back, turning to run through the tunnel as fast as he could.

The pounding grew more insistent, and the Harvestman screamed and sobbed. “Don’t leave me!  _ Don’t leave me! _ I’ll die without you!” He cried, continuing to slam on the door. The end of the tunnel began to catch up to Max, but he was faster.

Max flung himself through the doorway, scrambling to shut and lock the door. He braced himself against it, and when the Other World door caught up with the wall, the whole house rattled as Max was thrown halfway across the room.

Max resigned to laying on his back on the floor for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

Then, he jumped up, hope flashing through him. David and Gwen had to be here, right? He’d broken the glass, they should have been able to get out, right?

Max listened to the house, hearing the silence and hoping something would break it, internally begging to hear the sound of his parents around once again.

But it was silent. The kid walked around the living room, looking up at the old painting he’d smashed in the Other World. The glass was smashed here too, and the painting’s canvas was ripped from the shards of glass.

Suddenly, Max heard someone fiddling with the front door’s handle. The door opened, and a familiar voice called out through the house.

“Max? We’re home!”


	21. If You Want To Stay - Part Two

Both of Max’s foster parents had snow on them, but Gwen had the worst of it. The top of her head was covered, and she looked tired as all Hell.

Max couldn’t bring himself to care. He jumped to them, running over. “David, Gwen! Oh, thank God!” He ran to David, and before he could stop himself, he was hugging his foster parent and burying his face into his shirt.

David sighed with relief. “Gosh, Max, I’m so sorry,” He started. “I brought the groceries back, but then Gwen called for a ride and I had to go back out before I could even say anything to you, then the GPS sent us in the opposite direction of home and we got stuck in traffic and-” David rambled apologetically, but Max didn’t care. Did he not remember getting trapped in the painting?

“Jesus Christ,” Gwen said. “What happened in here? Why’s the mirror broken?” She didn’t speak accusingly, just confused and concerned. David pulled away from Max, looking him over.

“Oh gosh, you’re bleeding!” For a second, Max thought he was going to get yelled at, but David seemed more concerned with helping his kid. He had completely forgotten about all of his cuts, and he was dotted in bruises now. “What happened?”

_ I guess they really don’t remember, then. _ Max thought. He quickly formulated a story. “Neil’s cat chased a bird into the house. It went up the stairs, and I tripped.” He said, looking at the damages around his home.

David sighed with relief, seeing that Max seemed to be fine. “Let’s get you patched up. We’re going out for dinner tonight!” He said cheerily.

“I got the job, and David insists on celebrating.” Gwen said with a warm smile. Max nodded silently, looking at the snow on his parents before it melted without a trace.

 

Max didn’t want to admit it to himself, but the Other World’s words was starting to get to him. What if David and Gwen  _ did _ get tired of dealing with him? What if they  _ did _ give up and send him to a new home?

Part of him knew they wouldn’t do that. They had put up with him for a year, they wouldn’t let that all go to waste.

But at the same time, it was just more time he had to wear them down, make them sick of him.

He tried to push the thoughts away, but every time he did, they would come back stronger, keep pushing back, wondering,  _ what if they’re just putting up with you until you turn away for long enough? What if they give you up when you look away? _

To be fair, his foster parents were acting strange. They had gone to a local pizza place for dinner, and during pauses in conversation, David would look at Gwen and open his mouth to say something but stop himself short.

_ They’re trying to tell you they’re moving to to a new home, _ part of Max said. He’d push away the thought, guilty it came to the surface in the first place and even more guilty that it would come back.

He was able to fend his anxieties off for long enough that they returned home, letting Max change into his pyjamas. As he did, he could hear his parents talking downstairs, only hearing fragments of conversation. Nothing he could figure out what they were talking about with.

Max sat on his bed, giving up on listening in and starting to let it take over.  _ They’re going to tell me I’m going to a new home, _ he thought, feeling defeated and sad.

He hid it when David knocked on his door, asking, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, sure.” Max replied with. David came in, less bubbly and enthusiastic than normal. “What’s up?” Max didn’t want to know, but he asked anyways.

David sat down on Max’s bed next to him, thinking. “Listen, I- Me and Gwen have been-” He stuttered, trying to get out the words. 

Max wished he would just spit it out. Like ripping off a band-aid, except not the ones that covered his scraped knee or scratched hands. Worse than that.

David sighed, seeming to have his own anxieties to quell. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and unfolding it. He handed it to Max wordlessly, looking into his lap almost bashfully. Max looked over the papers, but he only registered a few words.

_ Parental rights. _

_ Custody of child. _

 

_ U.S. Legal Adoption Form. _

 

Max stared at the page. “It’s not too late for us to back out, but…” David trailed off for a moment, and Max looked up at him. The ginger didn’t look up. “We really do like having you here, Max. We’d love to adopt you, but it’s all up to you. If you want to stay.”

Max looked back at the paper in front of him, and it was silent for a long moment. David shifted on the bed before hearing a small sniffle from Max.

“M-Max? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pressure you or anything, you don’t have to tell us now-” David rambled anxiously, but Max interrupted.

“No, that’s not it. It’s just-” Max sniffled again, wiping his eyes with his arm. “I put you and Gwen through Hell for that whole summer at camp. And then again for past  _ year. _ Why?”

David looked surprised at his kid’s words. “I think that summer was the best one I’ve ever had, first of all. And second, I already told you. We really do like having you around here. Gwen might think it’s Hell having you around-” Max laughed as David smiled up at him. “-but I think you’re awesome. If not a little foul-mouthed.”

Max smiled up at David, still a little teary eyed. David opened his arms, as if asking, “Hug?” Max took the offer, hugging David tightly.

“Then yeah.” Max said, savoring the moment for as long as he could. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”

 

Not long after that, David let Max go to sleep, saying goodnight to the half-sleeping kid before flicking off the lights. He walked over to his and Gwen’s room, where she held a book in front of her but stared through the pages.

She jumped up when she saw David enter the room. “What did he say? You look like you’ve been crying, is that a good thing right now? Please tell me it’s a good thing.” She fretted. David laughed, grabbing her hand in his.

“Yes, it’s a good thing.” David said, smiling.

“So he-”

“Yes!” He hugged Gwen tightly, lifting her into the air for a moment. “Yes, we’re going to adopt Max and we’ll be the perfect little family.” Gwen laughed, hugging David back just as tightly.

“I can’t believe we’re actually gonna be able to call that little shit our kid,” The woman joked with tears in her eyes. “Do you think he’ll be happy here?”

David sighed thoughtfully. “I think so. I hope so.” 

He carefully laid a kiss on Gwen’s forehead, speaking in a voice so low she could barely hear.

“I promise, I’ll do everything I can to make sure both of you are happy.”


	22. Smile Like You Mean It

Max faked falling asleep. He wasn’t exactly sure why; maybe it would make the moment last longer, or maybe it was the perfect thing to let come into his dreams.

He sat up in bed a few moments after David left, looking at his bandaged hands. School started in just a few days, it would be weird having to go to school like this. Max just shrugged off the thought, ready to lay back down in bed before hearing a  _ mrrow _ at his window.

He stood up, walking over to the window where Nikki sat, looking angry. Max opened it, feeling the cold wind blow in as he looked at the disapproving white-and-grey cat.

“Hey, Nik.” He said, a small smile on his face. The cat glared in response. “Still mad, I’m guessing?”

There was really no need to ask.

“I’m sorry I threw you at him. It was all I could think of.” Max said. Nikki seemed to notice the genuineness of his comment, and walked into the house, rubbing against the kid’s bandaged hand. Max smiled, then picked up the cat to carry her into the warmer home.

He placed her down on the sheets of his bed, then reached over to the pocket of his hoodie to pull out the ghost eyes. He sat back down with Nikki, looking at the kitten for a moment.

“What… Do we do with them?” Max asked, his gaze turning to the eyes again. Nikki gestured to Max’s pillow with her tail, seeming confident even though she was just guessing.

Max just went along with her guess, putting the three orbs under his pillow before laying down. Despite the events of the day, the kid found himself falling asleep quickly, falling into dreams as soon as his head hit the pillow.

 

The sky almost looked like it had been painted. It swirled around the ceiling, imitating the stars and moving clouds mystically. Max stared at the moving skies, watching as it moved around him.

He wasn’t standing on any ground. For all he knew, there was no ground for miles. He was suspended in the air, looking around this mysterious new world.

This, he knew was a dream. It wasn’t even a question in his mind - the real question was  _ why couldn’t he control it? _ He’d heard of lucid dreaming before, but maybe this was something else.

“It’s a fine, fine thing you did for us, sir.” A voice called out to Max. He turned to look at the source of the voice.

It was the tall ghost boy who had spoken to him, but they were all these, color restored from their previously pale a glowing forms. Now, they all had small wings fluttering from their backs. The tall ghost boy had dusty blond hair, and where he had been previously stuck with a frown, he smiled brightly.

The teenage girl stood proudly, toes pointed down. She had blonde, straightened locks of hair, and a pink streak in her hair, faded. She had a small smile but her eyes reflected a sense of happiness she couldn’t figure out how to show.

The little kid looked the most joyous. His wings fluttered quicker than the others and his brown eyes shone with joy in the light of the stars. Small curls of brown waved in the breeze he bounced up and down, ready to take off with excitement.

Max looked at the three children for a moment before responding. “I’m just glad it’s finally over.” He responded, relaxing a bit.

A shadow fell over the ghost’s faces. They got closer to Max, looking somber. The tall ghost spoke. “It  _ is _ over and done with… For us.”

There was a beat of silence. “What… What about me?”

The little boy burst out. “You’re in terrible danger, sir!” He blurted out, reaching for Max’s arm. Surprisingly, he didn’t pull away from the kid.

“How? I locked the door!” Max said.

“It’s the key.” The girl answered. Max reached into his pocket, where the key still resided. “There’s only one, and the Harvestman will do anything to find it.”

Max clenched his fist around the key as he looked at the button-top of it. “Dammit,” He muttered to himself, then bursted. “God dammit!” He yelled, throwing the key down into the infinite sky.

The ghosts came closer, embracing Max comfortingly. “It’s not all bad,” The tall ghost boy spoke. “You are alive.”

The lights of the world Max had found himself in begin to dim, and for a moment he panicked. Max found himself falling asleep all over again, the world around him fading as he heard the ghosts speak once more.

“You are still living.”

 

Max awoke with a start, jumping up for a minute. Nikki, on the foot of Max’s bed, reacted to this and jumped up too.

Max took a moment to gain his bearings before turning to his pillow and quickly lifting it up, looking at the ghost eyes. All of them were in pieces, like hatched bird eggs. He turned back to Nikki, who looked just as confused as Max felt. He jumped out of bed, ignoring the cold floorboards as he reached to his hoodie and dug out the key from it’s pocket.

“We’ve gotta hide this somewhere, somewhere he can’t find it.” He said, letting his thoughts come out as words.

Nikki didn’t like the sound of this. She jumped in front of the door, trying to block Max’s path, but he just stepped over her with a huff. Max made a beeline for the front door, putting on his sneakers quickly.

What he couldn’t see, though, was the little door in the living room, the bottom of it creaking as something pushed against it. Slowly, it wriggled it’s way out of the door, the wood snapping back into place as Daniel’s needle-mesh of a hand escaped and started to run towards Max.


	23. We Can Go Anywhere

The cold wind gripped Max through his hoodie as he walked on the familiar path of dull grey ground. His hands were buried in his pocket, one of them gripping the Other World key. Quietly, he hummed a tune - the same one David had been singing so long ago while making dinner. It must have only been a few days ago, but even that felt like a lifetime ago now.

The cheery tune helped Max as he pushed onward, on the same path he had been on that first day. The trees he passed held dull brown leaves that fluttered then fell in the chilly breeze, heavy as a feather when they hit the dirt.

A clicking sounded out behind him, and Max almost turned to it. Before he could, he shrugged it off, reasoning that it was probably a falling rock.

The well came into view, illuminated in the slivers of moonlight that peeked through the clouds that tried to hide it. Max reached down to the well and pulled the wooden panel off. 

More clicking sounded out, faster as Max pulled out the key and looked at it, taking a deep breath before holding it above the well.

Suddenly, his neck was getting pulled at, his hood being yanked from behind. Max’s gasp was cut off as he choked on the neck of his sweater, and he turned to see what was pulling him. At the sight of the needles, he knew, and he was pissed.

He turned over, flinging the hand of needles across the dirt. It hurried to get up, clumsy without it’s owner. Max was about to grab it to throw it into the well with the key when it jumped, tangling itself in the kid’s hair.

He yelled it response, trying to pull the hand out of his black curls without getting stabbed by it’s needles. A growing battle-cry of terror sounded out, making both the mesh of needles and Max stop to look.

There, on top of the bluff that he had tumbled down on Max’s first day here, was Neil on his bike, holding his tongs used for slug-catching as he sped down towards them. He screamed as he did, swinging the tool around wildly. Max almost dived out of the way until Neil’s tongs grabbed the needle-monster out of his hair. 

Max cheered for Neil as he turned around with the pointed beast, aiming to throw it in the well. The hand clanked and clattered, metal scraping against metal as it escaped the tong’s clutches and ran up Neil’s arm like a spider.

The kid yelled with fear. This did nothing to help as the hand grabbed his bike handles, swinging them to the side and sending both the hand and Neil towards the ever-opening well. His bike flew out from underneath him, and Max jumped forward in a desperate attempt to grab Neil out of the air.

Just as he thought he was about to fall into the endless abyss, Max grabbed Neil’s arms out of the air, leaving him to dangle over the edge. Neil was still yelling, kicking at the wall of the well trying to get up.

“Stop moving! You’re gonna-” Max cut himself off as he saw the hand start climbing up Neil’s back. “Shit!” He yelled. He didn’t know what to do - if he let that thing up, it would make him drop his friend, but he couldn’t spare a hand to knock it into the well without letting go of Neil.

The hand crawled closer and closer, Neil squirming in response to the needle poking his back. It scaled up his arms onto Max’s, and just as both of the kids saw it raise two fingers to cut off the death-grip Neil had on Max, something hissed.

Nikki was running to the well full speed, yowling as she tossed herself onto the needle-mesh of a hand. She shook it around with her head, toying with her prey before spitting it into the well, not even giving it a chance to grab onto the kids again before it fell. 

It didn’t even make a sound when it hit the water at the bottom, finally falling away with the last faded traces of Daniel’s magic.

Max pulled Neil all the way out of the well, huffing to catch his breath before grabbing the key from the muddy ground and dropping unceremoniously into the well.

“Good riddance.” He said, looking into the abyss for a moment before grabbing the wooden cover and putting it on top of the well. Neil shuffled awkwardly, trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to say.

“I’m… I’m really sorry I didn’t believe you.” He said bluntly, looking at his feet. 

Max shrugged, sitting down in the mud and not caring about how dirty his clothes were getting. “S’alright. I wouldn’t have either.” He smiled lightly at the thought, mostly glad that it was finally all over. “What made you change your mind?”

Neil reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out an old and slightly yellowed black and white photo. He unfolded it, showing it to Max. In the photo, there was a kid who looked a lot like Neil - maybe a year or two younger - and the young astronaut ghost boy Max had seen in the other world. The astronaut held a doll that looked just like him, similar to the doll Max had burned.

“Well, uh, after I called you crazy, I talked to my grandpa about it. He showed me this picture. It’s his friend. Before he disappeared?” Max looked at the picture, feeling a strange sense of tranquility wash over him as he looked over the boy. “Grandpa said something about a little door, and some guy in there that tricked him into staying, and I guess it was the same thing you were trying to tell me.”

Max nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

_ “Neil?” _ A voice called out.  _ “Neil!” _

“Oh, shit!” Neil suddenly exclaimed, standing up and beginning to pace. “What am I gonna tell him?! It’s like, eleven o’clock at night, what do-”

“Chill out, man,” Max said, standing up. “I’ll vouch for you. He’ll probably wanna know what happened with that fucker, anyways. My parents are asleep, and I’m sure I can sneak back in quietly.”

Neil looked at his friend, a little surprised to see how sympathetic he was being. “Well.” He smiled lightly, then turned to face toward the hill he came from. “My place is this way. Thanks.”

Max looked back at the well, happy to see it silent and undisturbed. 

Finally and truly, it was over, and Daniel would leave him and his family alone.

“No problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, lovelies! I've been trying to leave not as many notes on this, but I wanted to give you all a few updates!
> 
> About the car fire - the police department of the town our car caught on fire in apparently held a fundraiser for me and my mother! They got back in contact with us a while back, and said that they had raised over six hundred dollars for us. My grandparents had already helped us buy a new car, so this money went to getting the registration and everything set up for it. Thanks to some very kind donors from here and Tumblr, all of the clothes we lost have been replaced! Thank you all so so so much, you have no idea how glad I am to have made it out of this as well as we did. It's all thanks to you guys and your support!
> 
> About IYWTS - This story is, as you can tell, drawing to a close. There will be one more chapter to fare as a sendoff for this story, and I'm also going to write a chapter mentioning everyone who helped me write this story by inspiring me and giving me a push when I needed it.
> 
> Another thing about this story, I made a small backstory-story! It's called _I Know You._ and the first three chapters have already been posted.
> 
> Thank you all so much for being here for me, and while I can't wait to finish this story off for you all, know that I'll miss you all while I search for my next big story! Thank you again!


	24. Why Don't You Stay?

With a splash of summer morning light and the sounds of birds singing along the horizon, Max felt consciousness tug him out of his dreams. He groaned, dread in his gut as he realized what day it was.

As he pulled himself out of bed, he looked out of his window, squinting at the early morning light. Lately, he had been getting up earlier and earlier, able to enjoy the orange that painted the sky as it brightened to it’s usual sky blue.

It had been just over a week since everything. A breath of life had swept over the scenery in the wake of Daniel’s death, bringing color to the bland scenery. Leaves had sprouted to life seemingly overnight, and the yellow grass had begun to take in an emerald tone just in time for the end of the summer. Even the dirt seemed enriched, though whether it was the absense of foul magic or all the rain that had fallen, Max didn’t know.

He stretched as he stood up, making a mental list of everything he needed to do before the day began. It was strange how fast things went back to normal, or at least as normal as it could be. Nikki became a regular visitor of the house, so often that David had bought a small bag of cat treats that the cat mainly ignored. Neil tended to be close behind her, having become bored of his house at the tail end of summer.  _ There just isn’t enough to learn about inside sometimes, _ he’d said.

Max collected a change of clothes and took a shower with quiet steps, careful not to wake anyone in the house. Gwen’s new job was more forgiving than they tended to be, and now that she could sleep in a bit Max felt guilty about waking her up. David, on the other hand, was as peppy as always, and with school just about to start, he was getting in the habit of waking up early as well. 

After washing off and changing into his clothes, he made his way back to his room, deciding to spend the rest of his morning on the phone he had gotten after the “mysterious” loss of his iPod. It was strange to think something good could come out of such a bad situation, but that was a thought for another day.

 

The morning was quiet, and Max just sat in his bed and watched YouTube until he heard David knock on his door. “Max?” He asked, trying to see if the kid was awake.

“Yeah?” Max paused his video and stood up, ready to get going.

“Meet me downstairs for breakfast when you’re ready!” The redhead said happily before his footsteps faded, going downstairs.

Max took one last look out of his window at the garden as he put his phone in his pocket. Though there was not a lot of time before the fall hit, small flowers had begun to poke their way out of the ground, small shades of yellow and purple dotting the landscape. David, of course, had identified them when they had came up.  _ The purple one is aster, and the yellow one is coreopsis. Both of them should survive through the winter! _

But Max hadn’t been interested. All he could think of was how  _ coreopsis _ sounded like a big lizard with a lot of teeth. Instead, it was a small yellow flower that designed itself to live through the terrible northeastern snow storms they would get here. Maybe that was all it needed to be.

 

When Max got downstairs, David was almost done with food. The light smell of buttermilk mixed with the air, complimented by the sweetness of whipped cream and fruit. Two plates of pancakes had been made already, and David was finishing a last one, raspberries and blackberries adding a touch of tartness. Now that they had finally gotten real food in the house, David was glad to make meals, even if they were over the top.

“What do you want to drink?” David asked. 

“Orange juice is good, thanks.”

Gwen came into the room soon after, sitting down at the table across from Max as David put plates in front of everyone.

“So,” Gwen started. “I bet you’re excited for the first day of school, huh?”

Max leaned back and groaned with dread.

“Oh, don’t be like that!” David said optimistically. “You’re going into middle school, it’ll be so much better than-”

“It really won’t be.” Max deadpanned, and Gwen laughed.

“You know he’s right, David. Do you even remember middle school?” She asked the redhead, and he flushed.

“Unfortunately. Well, at least you already have some friends made.” Ever the optimist, David shook off the thought of his middle school years and bounced back with a smile. Gwen rolled her eyes as she ate her food.

“Speaking of that, aren’t you all carpooling?” She asked Max.

“Everyone except Preston, he’s a high schooler. I think he rides his bike? Or maybe his freaky mice  _ carry _ him there, I don’t know.” After learning the truth about the mice, he had an even worse disdain for them.

“Well, make sure he knows if he ever needs a ride, I’d be happy to help him out.” David remarked happily as he ate his pancakes.

 

When Neil showed up, Max decided to sit outside with him until Nerris and Harrison were ready to leave. The morning was quiet and peaceful, a cool breeze drifting through the new leaves on the trees.

“Shit’s crazy.” Max said, referring to Daniel. He had explained everything that had happened to Neil and his grandpa, who was actually his  _ great _ grandpa and was extremely old. 

“Definitely. I knew something was up with the flora here, but I never thought it would be… I don’t know, a demon? What  _ was _ he, anyways?” Neil asked, and Max shrugged in reply.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. He’s dead now, so it doesn’t matter.” Neil laughed softly and looked out to the placid garden. He hated seeing this faded house and it’s dead landscape ever since his parents moved to take care of his great grandpa - seeing this made him happy, and in a strange way, nostalgic. It made him remember the way things used to be, and how grateful he was that they’d changed.

“You’re reckless, you know that?” Neil spoke to Max almost fondly. The small kid looked over at him, a curious look on his face. “That whole thing was stupid and brave. And you still do other stupid and brave things. You’re… An enigma, I guess.”

Max laughed. “Thanks.” He replied.

Barking from downstairs sounded out as the door cracked open, Harrison and Nerris saying bye to the dogs and their parents. Nerris was filled with dread, evident on her face, and Harrison comforted her.

“Don’t worry, if anyone tries to bully you, I’ll just use my magic on them!” He said as they closed the door. As if on queue, David came out of the house, asking if everyone was ready.

A chorus of mostly reluctant ‘yes’s sounded out, and David marched happily to the car. “I call shotgun!” Max called out.

“What?!” Neil exclaimed.

“It’s my dad’s car!”

“Well, we’re at my grandad’s house!”

“We’re not driving to school with the house, Neil.”

Neil resigned as he climbed in the back seat of the car, David lecturing about arguing and how people would take turns. The kids simply tuned him out as the car started down the driveway.

Nikki, who sat on the roof of the pink house with her tail carefully tucked around her legs, watched them leave. She almost had decided to say goodbye to them, but she knew they would be back. For the first time in a very long time, she knew they would be back.

Silently, she decided she liked The Pink Palace better this way. After all, what house would you be living in if your family wasn’t there to live with you?


	25. Author's Note & Dedications

Hey, everyone! This is Koda, here to give out some long overdue thanks.

First, I'd like to note that the cover art has been updated! [PrincessChalondra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessChalondra/pseuds/PrincessChalondra) recently emailed me and mentioned that they redid the cover art, and it's honestly the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time! Thank you so much to Sage for making this, and for every kind comment she left on my stories!

Next, I'd like to give a shoutout to [directium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/directium/pseuds/directium) and [MicrosuedeMouse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicrosuedeMouse/pseuds/MicrosuedeMouse). I'm not sure if they'll see this, but their particular efforts shown in their writing and dedication to the fandom and their craft was truly inspiring. Both can be found on Tumblr and here on Ao3, so if you have the time, please go and check out their writing!

I got a lot of positive feedback on this story, and I think it's very important to tell you that I absolutely never would have finished If You Want To Stay. without it. This section is dedicated to all of the people who stuck out with their comments, taking the time to say anything at all when I updated, even just one word. Thank you to [ihatemyson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihatemyson/pseuds/ihatemyson), [Miss_Write](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Write/pseuds/Miss_Write), [AmableAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmableAngel/pseuds/AmableAngel), [Fresno](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fresno/pseuds/Fresno), [gaudyAficionado](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaudyAficionado/pseuds/gaudyAficionado), and everyone else who has and will comment here.

A tremendous thank you needs to go out to my friends, [AmaranthineSkies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmaranthineSkies/pseuds/AmaranthineSkies) and [Vziii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vziii/pseuds/Vziii). AmaranthineSkies helped beta this story, and was there to help me create it in it's developmental stages. Vziii helped me through some very tough times, and has continued to to this day. I really can't thank them enough.

And the final person I need to give thanks to unfortunately does not have an account on Ao3, but deserves as much thanks as I can give them. My wonderful partner and I started dating in early December, and they have been one of the most positive forces in my life. Alex been there for me during my worst times, listened to my rants about how much I love Camp Camp (despite the fact that they don't watch it), was fully supportive when I decided to change my name, and more than anything has been my closest friend. Words can't describe just how much I appreciate Alex for everything they've done for me, and I can only hope I'm giving them the same inspiration. If you have a Tumblr, you can follow them at <https://forests-are-my-happy-place.tumblr.com/>.

I believe that concludes everything I wanted to say here. All that's left is to promise that there are big things coming for my writing in the coming months, and I am absolutely thrilled to share them. And to everyone, from the passive readers to my most dedicated commenters,  **thank you!**


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